14/06/2017

UK consumers are now able to use their mobile phones while travelling in Europe secure in the knowledge that the cost of making calls, sending texts and processing data will be the same in any of the member states as it would have been in the UK. 

‘End of roaming charges in the EU – 15 June 2017’ explains how an EU ‘roam like home’ regulation has come into effect across all member states and banned mobile providers from imposing exorbitant roaming charges on consumers travelling abroad.

In practice, it means whether a mobile is on contract or pay-as-you-go SIM, calls, texts and data sessions abroad will be deducted from the monthly package of minutes with no extra charges.

The aim is to prevent the ‘bill shock’ to which consumers have been particularly vulnerable since smartphones made it possible to run up huge roaming charges downloading films or frequenting Facebook while travelling in Europe.

An estimated 9m UK users a year who are currently landed with roaming charges  after holidaying in the EU will particularly welcome the new rule. However, in ‘EU roaming and international calls explained’, the watchdog Which? warns them to be aware of some unexpected costs and provides evidence to suggest it is well worth users checking through the different providers to find the most suitable terms for their particular needs.

For example, if a user runs out of minutes, data and/or texts while abroad, there are significant variations in ‘out of bundle’ costs among providers.

Likewise, users in the UK aren’t technically roaming so providers can charge what they like for calls to other member states – and Which? found these charges can vary from 9p per minute charged by GiffGaff for calling a Spanish mobile from the UK to £1.50 per minute charged by O2 and Vodafone for the same call.

Turkey isn’t in the UK so roaming charges still apply – unless you are a customer of Vodafone, which recently added it to its list of free roaming countries.