A number of mobile phone providers have scrapped the free data roaming meaning holidaymakers will now be charged for using their device abroad.
From the end of March, selected network providers will enforce charges ranging from on average of £2 per day in an EU country.
Vodafone, EE, Three, Lebara and more will no longer offer free EU roaming and will charge customers post-Brexit.
However, some network providers have opted not to bring back data roaming fees, including O2 who have now merged with Virgin Mobile.
Vodafone reintroduced roaming charges in September 2021, meaning new and upgrading customers have had to pay up to £2 per day to use their monthly allowance of data, calls and texts.
Roaming is when a mobile phone is used outside of its home network, so overseas, and connects to another available cell network.
Before the UK left the EU, everyone from the UK could use their phone for free while in 28 destinations in the EU for no extra charge.
Now the UK is no longer part of the EU some mobile providers have reintroduced roaming charges, while others are allowing customers to still roam for free.
Here are roaming charges for some of the most popular UK mobile networks and what it will mean for customers:
EE
Will there be roaming charges?
EE has said: "Following Brexit, the way our network operates in the EU will be changing."
Roaming charges on EE will be reintroduced from January, 2022.
EE customers can use their minutes, texts and data allowances in EE's European roaming zone for £2 a day or for £10 a month with a Roam Abroad add on.
Here's how the new charges will work:
- One low fixed daily payment of £2 per day
- You don't need to do anything to opt in: if you use your allowances you'll pay £2 for that day, and if you don't, you won't be charged anything
- All your allowances work just like at home - and you can buy more data if you need to.
Where will roaming charges be active?
The charges will be active - £2 a day - across 47 European countries.
These are: Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus (excludes northern Cyprus), Czech Republic, Canary Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion Islands, Romania, San Marino, Saint Martin (French), Saint Barthelemy, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Vatican City (Italy).
Will I be affected?
If your pay monthly plan and your contract started before July 7, 2021 then these changes will not affect you.
If your pay monthly handset or SIM plan plan started on or after July 7, 2021 there will be a daily charge for using your phone in EE's European roaming zones from January 2022.
Can I avoid the charge?
From January 2022, if you have a plan with Smart Benefits, you can choose EE's Roam Abroad pass as a Smart Benefit and you won’t have to pay the £2 daily charge in the EU.
Alternatively, you can take Roam Abroad as an add-on to your plan at any time for £10 a month and you won’t have to pay the £2 daily charge in the EU.
To find out more or to purchase these add-ons visit EE here.
O2
Will there be roaming charges?
O2 say they have no plans to re-introduce roaming charges in Europe as they will be part of customers' monthly plans (O2 customers have a monthly data limit of 25GB and will be charged £3.50 for each GB after that).
However, those who are travelling outside of a Europe Zone and do not have their O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Bolt On will incur a charge.
They recommend customers get the O2 Travel Bolt On as they say it's the perfect way to stay connected when you’re on holiday - it costs £4.99 a day in selected destinations outside Europe.
Customers can pay a single, fixed daily rate which will give you 120 minutes, 120 texts and all the data you need. There's no upper usage limit on data, but data speeds might vary.
Find out more about it here.
Vodafone
Will there be roaming charges?
Vodafone has reintroduced roaming charges for Britons who travel to other countries in Europe. The post-Brexit blow means new and upgrading customers will have to pay up to £2 per day to use their monthly allowance of data, calls and texts.
Roaming fees when travelling across Europe ended in June 2017, allowing consumers to continue using their mobile plan in other EU nations at no additional cost, with a fair use limit.
Will I be affected?
Holidaymakers using Vodafone will be able to reduce the cost to £1 per day by purchasing a multi-day pass for eight or 15 days.
Those on the firm’s more expensive Xtra plans will still have roaming included, while the Republic of Ireland will be exempt for all customers.
Vodafone said fewer than half of its customers roamed beyond the Republic of Ireland in 2019.
“Rather than have all of our customers affected by including the additional costs of roaming into all of our tariffs, customers will be able to choose a plan that comes with roaming included, or purchase an additional roaming pass,” a spokesman said.
“Our ambition is to ensure customers don’t ever experience ‘bill shock’ when roaming with Vodafone, because all of our plans and passes will have clear usage caps, and customers will also be able to set their own limits via Vodafone Spend Manager, which is free to set up via the My Vodafone App.”
Three
Customers on Three have a bit more time before roaming charges take effect.
Three will apply a flat £2 daily charge to all new and upgrading Three customers from October 1 - customers will see the changes come into effect from May 23, 2022.
Three's fair use limit is 12GB and customers will be charged £3 per GB above that.
Three has introduced Go Roam which lets customers use their plan or add-on allowances in over 70 destinations around the world at no extra cost.
However, if users go over their plan they will be charged.
For £5 a day, customers can benefit from unlimited unrestricted data (up to fair usage limits) which can be used exactly as customers like, whether that's to upload pictures, stream TV shows or create a personal hotspot.
If you use a lot of data or just want the best internet experience, Three says their Data Passport is made for you.
Find out more about it here.
Can I avoid the charge?
Three has introduced a Data Passport.
For £5 a day, customers can benefit from unlimited unrestricted data (up to fair usage limits) which can be used exactly as customers like, whether that's to upload pictures, stream TV shows or create a personal hotspot.
If you use a lot of data, or just want the best internet experience, Three say their Data Passport is made for you.
Find out more about it here.
Sky Mobile
Will there be roaming charges?
Sky Mobile customers can use their phone or tablet in over 40 European (EU / EEA) destinations at no extra cost with a Roaming Passport.
Sky say when customers travel abroad they will text them information about the roaming charges in the destination they are visiting.
Sky has also set up a worldwide data roaming spend cap of £45 per month for each SIM so customers will never spend more than they want to on data.
You can remove this cap here.
Roaming Passport
Any mobile data used will come out of customer's UK data plan.
If customers have Unlimited Calls and Texts whilst they are roaming in the EU/EEA, calls and texts to standard EU/EEA mobiles and landlines will be inclusive (and it won't cost anything extra to receive calls either).
If you’re a Pay As You Use customer whilst you are roaming in the EU/EEA, the cost to make a call or send a text message to standard EU/EEA mobiles and landlines is 10p per minute or per text (and it won't cost anything extra to receive calls either).
The cost to send a picture message is the same as if you were sending it from the UK (40p per message).
Where can I roam for free?
Aruba, Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bonaire, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Curacao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion, Romania, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St Barthelemy, St Martin and Sweden.
Roaming Passport Plus (RPP)
Roaming Passport Plus gives customers access to their UK plan in 12 popular roaming destinations outside the European Union for £6 a day.
It will be automatically activated and added to your account when customers make a call, send a text or use more than 10MB of data a day in these destinations: Australia, Canada, Christmas Islands, Cocos Islands, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Qatar, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey (incl Northern Cyprus) and USA.
The Pass lasts for 24 hours and customers will only be charged for the days they use.
It's based on local time (not from midnight to midnight) and will reset after 24 hours.
Another Pass will only be activated again if the above thresholds are reached or if customers are travelling to another RPP destination within 24 hours.
BT
Will there be roaming charges?
There'll be no extra roaming charges for BT customers using their phones in Europe.
Roam Like Home is available to all BT Mobile customers at no extra cost.
It lets you use your minutes, texts and data allowances within BT's Roam Like Home zones without paying extra roaming charges.
Which countries are included?
You can benefit from Roam Like Home in the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal (including Azores and Madeira), Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Vatican City
As well as; Canary Islands, French Guiana, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Martinique, Mayotte, Norway, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, San Marino and Switzerland.
What's included in your bundle?
- Calls and text to the UK (to any UK mobile or standard fixed-line number 01, 02, 03)
- Calls and text within the same Roam Like Home country
- Calls and text to another Roam Like Home country
- Receiving calls when in a Roam Like Home country
- Data usage
- Calls to emergency services (999 or 112)
- Calls to Customer Care 150, 151 and 154
- Calls to numbers starting 0800, 0808 and 0500
- Voicemail
What happens if you go over your allowance?
If a customer goes over their allowance they will be charged the UK out of bundle rates:
- Calls: 36.57p/min
- Texts: 12p/message
- Data (internet): 10.45p/MB
Tesco Mobile
Will there be roaming charges?
Tesco Mobile say they have no plans to reintroduce extra data roaming charges.
A Tesco spokesperson said: "There are no Brexit changes to our Home From Home service.
"You can still use your data, minutes and texts in Europe as you would at home.
"We have no current plans to re-introduce roaming charges in European countries following the UK’s departure from the EU on 1 January 2021. If anything changes, we’ll contact all our customers to let them know."
Pay monthly customers
If you have a safety buffer on your account then you can protect what you spend on data by choosing a buffer that’s right for you.
Your usage will be capped at the safety buffer you choose.
If you have an older tariff without a safety buffer Tesco cap the amount you’re charged for data usage abroad at £40 per month.
So no matter how much data you use in any given month while you’re abroad, you’ll never be charged more than £40.
You can also choose to remove your safety buffer altogether in which case you’ll be able to spend more. If you reach your £40 data limit, Tesco will place a bar on your usage.
Pay as you go customers
Using data abroad will come out of your credit. Find out the cost of using data abroad (per MB) on the Tesco website here.
To see the latest Tesco Mobile deals visit the website here.
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