No plans for roaming charges in Europe
Roaming charges in Europe are unlikely to return for UK mobile phone customers after service providers including EE, Three and O2 all confirmed that they are not planning to introduce them.
There had been fears that additional charges for making calls and texts and using data on the continent would return post-Brexit as the deal brokered late last year did not include any stipulations related to roaming.
The Sun reached out to eight leading mobile phone operators to see whether the practice will return in 2021, but all of them stated a commitment to inclusive roaming in Europe.
Virgin Mobile, for example, said that its customers could tap into their mobile plans in “43 European destinations” as part of its ‘Roam Like Home’ package.
O2 said that it is committed to “great connectivity and value”, while EE and Vodafone offered similar sentiments regardless of how Brexit progresses.
However, MPs want Ofcom to bring in an additional safety net that would prevent providers from introducing charges at a later date.
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) chairman Julian Knight believes that it would be “unacceptable” for roaming fees to return as phone operators haven’t charged anything for around six years.
He added: “Consumers have got used to this and it would be wrong if they suddenly had to pay.”
The government’s own guidance states that the guarantee of free roaming ended on 1st January 2021, but it appears for now that there is not any appetite for charges to return, which is good news for customers.