Mobile phone providers have said they offer customers affordable and clear data roaming deals despite a damning report which suggests millions are being caught out with unexpected charges while abroad.
The mobile networks have responded following the warning from Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis who said UK travellers could be hit with unexpected mobile roaming costs for using just a minute of data abroad. Three have said their deals are simple and clear for customers while Giffgaff say their users have full control of their usage.
Data roaming, which occurs when your phone disconnects from your carrier's network and hops onto another network, can carry hefty fees. A number of operators brought back the additional fees for UK customers while holidaying in the EU following Brexit but were previously banned from doing so.
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It means that thousands of customers have to pay to use their phone abroad if they are with a provider that has reintroduced the charges, leaving many with higher bills and little rights to contest. Because the providers don't have to warn users of roaming costs, provide a monthly cap on roaming fees, or offer protections against inadvertent roaming, users are being caught out by unexpected roaming costs.
At the end of June 2022, networks Vodafone, Three, Sky Mobile, EE and Voxi had all reintroduced charges of £2 per ‘day’ to use a UK allowance when travelling in the EU/EEA, subject to a fair use agreement. Yet MSE’s new analysis has found that networks are not always upfront about how they define this ‘daily’ charge.
The MSE report states: "While what constitutes a day might seem obvious, not all networks use a consistent definition of a ‘day’ in their EU/EEA roaming pricing – risking huge confusion among consumers which could ultimately cost them if they are caught out. Most define a day as 24 hours from first use, but one defines a day’s use as anything up to 11.59pm UK time the same day.
"This could mean that a customer is charged the full daily rate for just five minutes’ use, if they were unaware of this deadline. This is an unfair policy which could lead to bad outcomes for consumers."
Martin Lewis has said he no longer has faith in mobile firms to self-regulate and is calling on Ofcom to do more to protect consumers which includes; all provides using the same definition that a 'day' is a 24 hour period from first use, clearly explain how they define a 'day', and alert customers at least an hour before the end of the 'daily' roaming period.
Three
Three, who were one of the first providers to bring back data roaming charges say they think their flat charge of £2 in the EU is simple and affordable for their customers.
Customers who have taken out a new contract or upgraded with Three since 1 October 2021 pay a charge of £2 per day when roaming within the EU and £5 a day when roaming outside the EU. This policy is available on all plans and Three stats it lets customers use their phone as they would at home for 24 hours.
Three also offers a Data Passport, which gives unlimited data until midnight UK time for £5 a day. It’s available in 89 locations, including Turkey and Azerbaijan, which are not in Go Roam.
Three say the daily charge is for a 24 hour period which is from the point when customers start using their allowance in that location. The Data Passport gives customers unlimited data until midnight UK time.
A Three spokesperson told the Liverpool Echo: “Customers who have taken out a new contract or upgraded with Three since 1 October 2021 will pay a charge of £2 for 24 hours when roaming in the EU. Pay as you go customers and customers who have taken out a contract before 1 October 2021 are unaffected by these changes. Customers roaming in the Republic of Ireland are also unaffected.
“We want to keep our roaming pricing as simple and affordable for customers as possible, and we think a flat charge of £2 for 24 hours in the EU reflects this. It also means only those who roam will pay for the service, rather than customers who stay in the UK also absorbing this cost.
“We are investing billions of pounds in improving our network and infrastructure and already offer some of the most cost-effective deals on the market – implementing a separate roaming fee will enable us to continue to do this.”
Three says the £5 Data Passport charge ensures customers are clear on what they will pay when using their phone in another country and only those who roam will pay for the service. They also said that customers who roam will be protected from bill shock by the "clear and simple pricing, warning text messages, as well as the worldwide data cap of £45."
Giffgaff
Members are able to use up to 5GB of their 'goodybag allowance ' in the EU and selected destinations at no extra cost. After this, there’ll be a charge of 10p / mb while roaming which is the same as Giffgaff's out of bundle charge in the UK.
Giffgaff say their customers have full control of their data roaming usage thanks to their app but operate a fair usage policy on unlimited minutes and texts across the EU. But the key thing here is the allowance for customers doesn't have a timestamp.
They say members can choose how and when they want to use it, and their goodybags run month to month which members can set up rolling monthly goodybag plans, meaning their allowance updates automatically.
A Giffgaff spokesperson said: " We understand that using your phone abroad is important to our members. In fact, based on our data, 93% of our members used less than 5GB while roaming in the EU in 2019. We believe that providing 5GB of data, alongside unlimited minutes and texts, at no extra cost allows the majority of our members to continue using their phone while in the EU."
The provider states that their app gives members "full control and visibility" over their usage at home and abroad. They say m embers are able to use the app without eating into their data allowance abroad to check their data, top up on the go and switch between Giffgaff accounts.
To prevent members from overspending on EU roaming, Giffgaff say they have a £45 cap in place and also alert members when they reach 80% and 100% of their data allowance.
A spokesperson told the Liverpool Echo: " We incur interconnect costs when people roam in the EU and under the EU legislation, all UK mobile networks have to absorb costs. Our updated EU roaming data cap ensures we can continue to offer certainty and value to our members at home.
"For 2022, we’ve introduced a UK price freeze to give members the peace of mind that the mobile tariff they pay at home will not increase. We work closely with Ofcom and will continue to discuss the needs of our members as EU travel becomes a regular part of people’s lives again.
" We encourage any of our members in financial difficulty to get in touch with our customer service agents as we have a number of ways that we can help them."
Sky Mobile
Sky Mobile have said they currently follow the previous roaming protections set out by Ofcom and state they provide clear communications to customers to make sure they’re informed about how roaming charges may affect them.
Sky offer customers a Roaming Passport Plus pass which costs £2 a day (this used to be £6 a day) for those in the EU/EEA, the USA, Australia, Canada and more, se full list of destinations here. The £2 pass activates automatically when customers land in one of the Roaming Passport Plus destinations and: make a call or send a text (SMS) or use more than 10MB of data.
When arriving in a Roaming Passport Plus destination, users should receive a welcome SMS message which provides relevant information on the costs associated to access their plan whilst abroad, including data, calls and texts and the 24-hour period for the pass.
However, customers are advised within the welcome SMS to turn off data roaming within their phone settings to avoid roaming charges. Sky Mobile also say their customers are sent a text when the 24-hour period is activated and at least one hour prior to the roaming pass ending, so customers can decide how they would like to proceed.
A Sky Mobile spokesperson said: “To make things simple for our Sky Mobile customers, we charge £2 a day for our Roaming Passport Plus pass, which lets customers access their UK plan and rolled over data in popular destinations globally. When travelling outside of the UK, customers receive detailed SMS messages on charges and how to avoid them, reminders at least one hour before the 24 hour roaming window finishes and an automatic £45 spend cap per SIM.”
Customers are able to configure their spending cap here.
BT and EE
BT uses the EE network so their customers are under the same data roaming policies. The changes to their roaming costs only affect new or upgrading customers who joined after the 7th July 2021, who will be able to take the Roam Abroad Pas s for £10, meaning a family of four on a two-week trip will pay £40 to access their UK plans allowance in 47 European destinations.
If a customer chooses not to take the Roam Aboard Pass, any new or upgrading EE customers who joined after the 7th July 2021 will pay a new flat fee of £2 a day to use their UK plan’s allowance while roaming across 47 European destinations.
EE say their customers have a grace period of a small amount of free data when they land before charging starts, to allow them to decide on whether they want to accept the charges.
This is when the fees will kick in, from that period of acceptance. The daily charge is capped but EE have not provided details of what that cap is.
An EE spokesperson said: “Our roaming changes only affect those customers who have signed a new contract from July 2021, and travel abroad to Europe, from March this year. As part of this change, Full Works and Smart Plan customers can still use their phone as they would in the UK at no extra cost in 47 European destinations and five additional countries around the world, simply by adding a £10 a month Roam Abroad Pass to their plan. Customers can remove this pass from their plan at any time to offer the most flexibility.”
O2 and Virgin Media
O2 who have merged with Virgin Media are one of the only big providers not to bring back data roaming charges.
On both O2 and on Virgin Mobile, to help customers stay in control they say they are maintaining the monthly data caps already in place and will text customers at regular intervals through that allowance and when they reach 100%. From there they give options of what else customers may want to apply to their account, or leave the cap in place to restrict any further charges.
They providers also state that they text travellers when they arrive at their destination, and this SMS makes clear what is included and what they will be charged. Any customers, and for those heading further afield, can also set their spend cap. The providers offer and encourage these for customers going further afield, which are in place to protect customers from any high bill shock when roaming outside of the EU.
Virgin O2 also say that customers benefit from being able to use WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Twitter, as these apps are excluded from roaming usage and charging, in the same way they are domestically.
A Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said: “As the only major mobile network operator not to reintroduce roaming charges in Europe, our customers on O2 and on Virgin Mobile can be confident of getting great value and connectivity while travelling using the same inclusive minutes, texts and data as at home in the UK."
Smarty
Smarty who provide and specialise in budget SIM deals for their customers have plans that still include EU roaming with 12GB of data. All of their plans include unlimited calls and texts, EU roaming (with 12GB of data) included, plus 5G at no extra cost and with no annual price rises.
They also offer an EU Roaming add-ons if customers run out of data, want to make chargeable calls or roam without restriction in the EU. Although prices for these add-ons have not been disclosed.
Sayed Hajamaideen, Head of Marketing at Smarty Mobile, said: “While everyone is feeling the pinch of the surging cost of living, Smarty customers can be certain that they will never experience unwanted surprise mobile bills whether at home or abroad.
"We’re helping customers to navigate change by giving them control of their phone bill, with the power to flex their data plan depending on their needs. Smarty customers also have one less money matter to worry about when they’re abroad in the EU as we’re staying true to our simple and honest values by not changing our EU policy unlike many other network providers which means our customers will continue to get up to 12GB of EU roaming included in their price plan.”
Asda Mobile
Users who are with Asda Mobile will receive unlimited calls and texts, plus 5GB of data for roaming within EU countries. Asda Mobile also say they continue to not change customers a daily rate and feel that 5GB is a fair allowance for a customer roaming.
They also state that they communicate to customers via text at three points, when they land, when they’ve used 80% of their allowance and when they hit the maximum roaming amount.
The ECHO asked Asda Mobile what happens when customers go over their 5GB data limit but Asda have failed to provide a response.
Vodafone
Vodafone reintroduced charges of £2 per ‘day’ to use a UK allowance when travelling in the EU/EEA, subject to a fair use agreement.
A Vodafone spokesperson said: "Vodafone offers plans that have inclusive roaming. Customers who don’t have roaming included in their plan can purchase an eight or 15 day roaming pass which are available for the equivalent of just £1 per day, or pay a £2 per day daily rate.
“This will only affect customers who signed up to a new contract after 11 August 2021, and roaming in the Republic of Ireland will still be included for all customers. Customers who signed up to their current contract before 11 August 2021 will not be impacted by these charges while they remain on their price plan.
“Customers will also be able to set their own limits using Vodafone Spend Manager, which is free to set up via the My Vodafone App.”
Vodafone say that all customers arriving in the EU are notified via SMS with information about roaming costs, and whether charges apply to the customer (dependent on the plan they have).
They say their roaming passes (or the £2 daily fee) will be activated once the phone is used to make a call, text or using data in that location. Customers will have 24 hours’ of use from the time the pass is activated (i.e. once the phone is used abroad).
When customers travel, this means increased costs to Vodafone, they say, as they have to rely on the networks and services of those companies that their customers are using in their travel destination countries. Through to 2025, they forecast a 70% increase in the number of days customers will be roaming, and a 150% increase in the amount of data they will consume.
Vodafone also state that it should be underlined that, in the financial year ahead of the pandemic, fewer than half of their customers roamed beyond Republic of Ireland. So rather than have all of their customers affected by including the additional costs of roaming into all of their tariffs, only customers who roam will pay the additional costs.
Lebara were also approached for comment.
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