Thought to be a thing of the past, EU roaming charges are making a comeback. Since 2017, UK customers have been able to use the minutes, data and texts included in their tariff when travelling around the EU.
But the Brexit trade deal opened this up, and EE is the first mobile operator to reintroduce EU roaming charges for new customers.
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What are EE’s EU roaming charges?
EE is the first mobile operator to break ranks. In January 2021, EE, O2, Three and Vodafone all said they had no plans to reintroduce EU roaming charges.
But this week, EE announced that new customers joining or upgrading from 7 July 2021 will be charged £2 a day to use their allowances in 47 destinations from January 2022.
However, the mobile operator is offering customers the chance to buy a 30-day pass for £10 to use their home tariff abroad.
Will the others follow?
The move by EE to reintroduce EU roaming charges has led some to speculate about whether the other mobile operators will follow.
At the time of writing, this doesn’t appear to be happening. Instead, what O2, Three and Vodafone are saying is that they will place ‘fair use limits’ on the amount of time that customers will be able to use their phones abroad. Basically, they will introduce charges if someone spends more than 62 days abroad in a four-month period.
Similarly, data limits will be subject to fair use restrictions. Here’s how each mobile network is approaching it:
- O2 will have a monthly data limit of 25GB and will charge £3.50 for each GB after that.
- Vodafone’s limit will also be 25GB, with a £3.13 charge per GB after that.
- Three plans to reduce its limit from 20GB a month to 12GB a month from July. It will charge £3 per GB above the limit.
Fair use limits have been around for a while. However, the UK trade deal has brought them into sharper focus. For now, it looks like operators are using them as a way to hold off reintroducing EU roaming charges.
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How can you get a good mobile phone deal?
While it may be easy to just carry on and accept extra charges, you could save yourself hundreds of pounds each year by switching your mobile phone deal.
Much like your car insurance or energy tariff, shopping around and comparing mobile networks could save you money.
If you are happy to do a bit of haggling, you could bag yourself a bargain. It’s best to be prepared if you do decide to do this. Try to do your research by looking at your data usage and the cheapest tariffs out there. And bear in mind that EU roaming charges may become more commonplace.
Also, ask what new customers get, and if you aren’t happy, threaten to switch. But don’t feel pressured to walk away if they say they can’t do anything for you.
Deals and discounts can also vary during the year, so keep an eye on the latest handset releases. Often the time to get a good price on a handset is a month or so after its successor has been launched.
