Sky Mobile customers now have to pay up to £2 a day to access their data, calls and texts when abroad. It means millions of Sky Mobile users will now have to pay to use their phone while on holiday.
Since the UK left the EU following the Brexit vote, mobile network providers across the board have begun to reintroduce roaming fees where previously customers could use their monthly texts, minutes and data allowance included in their contract while abroad in 28 European countries at no extra cost.
Sky Mobile is the latest provider to introduce fees, joining Vodafone, EE, Three and Lebara. Sky's new roaming package, known as Roaming Passport Plus, simplifies a raft of existing charges and, while it means places that were previously free are now chargeable, some countries which previously cost £6 a day to use a Sky Mobile phone in are now reduced to the flat £2 charge per 24 hours.
A Sky spokesperson said: “Sky Mobile goes wherever our customers go, not just around the EU. To make things simpler, we will now charge £2 per day for data roaming in popular destinations globally – in the EU, the USA, Australia, South Africa and more.”
EU and EEA destinations excluding the Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man will now be added to the list of Roaming Passport Plus destinations, alongside the United Arab Emirates. See the full list of destinations the passport covers here.
Sky Mobile says customers will get a welcome text as soon as their phone is switched on at a foreign destination giving them full details of the relevant roaming charges.
All customers who want to use their phone abroad will have to pay the new charge, although Sky advises on its help pages that users can turn off data roaming and mobile data in phone settings and avoid making calls and sending texts while abroad. Phones can still be attached to wi-fi networks in this situation.
It's also possible for users to add a spending cap to their account to include all out-of-plan charges on a SIM, including roaming charges, international calls and texts and the Roaming Passport Plus charge. This means customers worried about facing a massive bill can be reassured that if the costs reach the spending cap they will be blocked from accruing any more fees while they're away.
