Some UK telecom operators have begun to review their plans for roaming in the European Union following Brexit, despite having previously announced that they have no plans to change rates for British citizens visiting EU member states. . The possibility of accessing the system that allows you to call, send SMS and surf online by paying the same national rates even abroad – if within the European Union – had in fact been excluded from the long negotiations on the commercial aspects linked to the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
The first British telephone company to announce the reintroduction of roaming charges was EE, a subsidiary of BT. Operators Three and O2 have also announced some changes that will affect the cost of phone calls and smartphone navigation for their customers when they are in the European Union. Vodafone, on the other hand, has no plans for the modification of roaming-related policies for the time being. As Politico reports, all four phone companies had said earlier this year that they had no intention of reintroducing surcharges following Brexit.
EE has chosen a phased approach, with changes that will be fully applied starting next year. Your new customers, or those who change their rate plan, will have to pay £ 2 (approximately € 2.30) for each day spent in 47 countries, including those of the European Union and with the exception of Ireland.
O2 has decided to apply an additional fee of 3.50 pounds (approximately 4.10 euros) for each gigabyte of data downloaded in the European Union and with a maximum limit of 25 gigabytes downloaded, starting next August 2nd.
Three has instead decided to keep the rates unchanged, but has significantly reduced the maximum of freely downloadable data while its UK customers are located in the European Union. They will be able to download 12 gigabytes for free and no more than 20 gigabytes as it was previously.
Vodafone explained that it currently has no plans to change roaming rates.
The abolition of roaming tariffs in the European Union dates back to 2017, when it was received very positively by European citizens and numerous observers, because it marked an important simplification in the management of telecommunications. Previously, most national operators imposed considerable additional costs, especially for data consumption. Being part of the European Union at the time, the United Kingdom also benefited from the roaming rules, but during the Brexit negotiations the possibility of maintaining them was excluded, because it was considered one of the advantages of being part of the European single market.
For now, operators active in the European Union have shown no sign of wanting to reintroduce roaming charges for their customers traveling to the UK. In Italy, major operators continue to consider the UK as part of the European Union in their roaming guidance.
The rules adopted in 2017 by the European Union will in any case have to be renegotiated by 30 June 2022. The British government is therefore confident that there may be opportunities to introduce new agreements and avoid a price increase for British visitors to much of Europe. continental.
