As the pound languishes against the euro, British travellers are now benefiting from one welcome development: the abolition of roaming charges for using their phones across Europe.
The EU started putting the squeeze on intra-European roaming charges a decade ago, with a series of increasingly stringent price caps. From 15 June 2017, the final step in the European Commission’s clampdown takes effect.
The slogan used is “Roam Like at Home”, and Brussels promises “No bill shock anymore”. But there are still pitfalls that could leave holidaymakers seriously out of pocket.
Have roaming charges been abolished?
Within the 28 countries of the European Union, yes, roaming charges are no more. You do not need to set anything up; wherever you are in the EU, you will be treated as though you are in your home country. The mobile phone operator simply charges you domestic rates, or takes your roaming consumption from the allowances in your domestic mobile tariff. But there are a couple of fair-use caveats. And travellers must remember that calling a foreign phone number from a UK mobile could rack up high charges, even if you're only down the road from the hotel or restaurant you're dialling.
What's the fair-use catch?
There are two clauses intended to ensure “fair use”. The first covers data roaming. While you can make as many voice calls and send as many texts as you like at domestic prices, there are special rules for data use.
Beyond “a reasonably high volume” of roaming data at domestic rates, you may have to pay a data roaming surcharge of about £8.30 per gigabyte (€7.70/GB plus VAT). This will fall by 22 per cent next year, and continue to decline thereafter.
The second is intended to dissuade people from taking out a contract in a low-cost country (eg Bulgaria or Romania) and using it at home. The principle is: if you spend more time abroad than at home, and you must use your mobile phone more abroad than at home, the mobile operator may impose roaming charges (which themselves are capped at roughly the 2016-17 levels).
Each time you cross an internal EU border, you should get a text message from your mobile operator to say that you’re roaming and reminding you of its fair-use policy.
If I'm in Spain and call a Spanish number, is it now treated as a local call?
No. It is still regarded as a call from your home country to Spain, and will be charged according to your operator’s tariff. These fees are not regulated, and can be astronomical. O2, for example, charges UK Pay Monthly customers up to £1.50 per minute to call Spain (and 35p to send a text). So while Roam Like at Home is great for calling people in the UK (assuming you have a British contract), and also your partner if he/she is also in Europe. it offers no protect against excessive charged when you use it to call foreign numbers — even though they may be temporarily “local”.
Mobile operators have a range of plans that reduce charges. A better idea could be to use a free or nearly free calling service such as Skype, which will consume only Roam Like at Home data, at negligible cost. Free Wi-Fi is even better, of course, because it will not nibble away at your data bundle. You could even use a local payphone, if you can find one ...
What are the roaming rules for non-EU countries?
The three non-EU countries in the European Economic Area — Iceland, Norway and plucky Liechtenstein — will introduce Roam Like at Home “shortly after 15 June”, according to Brussels.
Other key exclusions include Switzerland, Andorra, Serbia and Albania — and also the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Some operators are applying the same basic European rules to those destinations, others are not; as with anywhere outside the EEA, you should check exactly what your operator plans to charge you.
Turkey, where around 1.5 million British holidaymakers are expected to go this summer, is a particular concern: several operators apply charges that are completely disproportionate to the cost of providing the service. For example EE levies a fee of £1.50 per minute to make or receive calls and 50p for each text sent by customers on monthly contracts.
Are there roaming fees on a ferry or cruise?
Most European ferries and cruises in the Mediterranean, the Baltic and across the English Channel are between EU ports, but when you are offshore and using a satellite link to the ship, “roam like at home” does not apply. There are no caps on what the operator can charge: £3 a minute to make or receive calls is common, and data charges may be sky-high. To stay in touch, you could use the on-board Wi-Fi (which could still be pricey) for data use and make calls via Skype or WhatsApp. Or switch to manually selected networks to make sure your phone doesn't select the ship's high-tariff satellite link. Or just turn the thing off and enjoy the voyage.
What happens after Brexit?
No-one knows. As citizens of a non-EU country, the British will have no automatic right to roam free telephonically. Abta, the travel association, has demanded "we retain this highly valuable and pragmatic EU-level agreement once we leave the EU”. It is possible that the UK will negotiate equivalent measures, or conversely that mobile-phone operators may reintroduce onerous charges. The eventual settlement is likely to be somewhere between the two.
