Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

The UK Government will not enforce the ban on mobile roaming charges for British citizens travelling in the EU after Brexit, a cross-party committee of MPs has warned.

The EU's ban on mobile roaming charges for voice, text messages and data has meant using a smartphone on the continent is the same cost as using it at home. But the House of Commons EU Scrutiny Committee said in a report that this is unlikely to remain in place for the UK following withdrawal.

It will mean that network operators will be the ones to decide whether to re-introduce roaming charges on UK customers, following their abolition last year across the whole EU.

UK consumers will also not benefit from proposed price caps for international calls between EU countries, due initially to be set at 16p a minute for calls and 5p for a text message.

The EU decided to introduce the cap after finding that telecoms companies were charging mark-ups for international calls that were "not justifiable", said the report.

"It is probable that mobile roaming charges – abolished on an intra-EU basis – will return, and that, even where they do not, increased wholesale roaming costs incurred by UK providers may be passed on to UK consumers indirectly," the cross-party committee warned.

"Post-exit, consumers should consider the roaming policies of their mobile operators extremely carefully before signing new contracts or using roaming services, as there will be potential for roaming charges much higher than those which preceded the EU's latest regulatory intervention to be applied."

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-a8609271.html

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

I’ve not paid roaming charges in the EU since long before the ban. Vodafone, and others, have offered roaming for years on some tariffs.

Hopefully idiots start running up bills of hundreds of pounds though, subsidises the service for those who aren’t stupid enough to not understand our tariffs. Good news for investors too.

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

Vodafone and a couple of other networks have already stated they will NOT be reintroducing roaming charges for the EU.

To be honest any UK mobile network would be silly to try and add them again. they would loose too many customers.

also there are many networks that have free roaming in USA, Canada, Australia and a few other countries.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/0...obile_roaming/

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

That's good to know for those who use this service.

When i'm abroad I usually just buy a local PAYG SIM for the duration; I can't understand why others don't do this.

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

Because for EU countries, we don't need to, and non-EU countries I've paid between £2 and £5 per day for unlimited data and normal text/call allowance (I've done this in Dubai, USA, Australia, recently).

Not having to worry about data usage (for maps, tourist information, bookings, check ins, etc.) makes it more than worth it for me.

ymmv

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

As there are no EU roaming charges now, why would you need to do that now?

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

When it's not a EU country.

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

Problems with 2-factor authentication, most services use text messages so you'd need to swap your SIM back to use this.

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

Some networks offer a fixed charge per day to use your home allowances.

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

Never knew that, i'll bear that in mind.

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

It's bizarre that out of all the Brexit issues people see this as high on their list of priorities, it's the least of our worries.

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

I think it could be a deal breaker with young people, but otherwise I don't think it will be the highest concern for most people.

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

The problem here Richard is that you put it forward as fact without anything to back it up.

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that roaming charges will return.

If you have evidence that they will then please present it.

Re: Roaming charges look set to return after Brexit.
 

It's been said that it's likely that they will return.