From January 2022, EE will start charging UK customers to use their phones in Europe, having previously said it had no plans to reintroduce roaming costs, even after they could do so under the U.K.-EU trade agreement signed in December 2020.
New EE customers or those upgrading after mid-July will have to pay £2 a day when they use their phones in 47 European countries from January.
EE is the first UK operator to officially reintroduce roaming charges, although O2 and Vodafone have said they will both impose an extra “fair use” charge if customers use more than 25GB of data in a month. From July 1, Three’s fair use limit will go down to 12GB from 20GB.
“This will apply only to new and upgrading customers signing up to EE from the 7th July 2021 and will support investment into our U.K. based customer service and leading U.K. network,” an EE spokesperson told Rapid Meta.
There will also be a 30-day “Roam Abroad Pass” for which EE customers can pay £10 to use their phone in the EU for longer periods of time. “Essential” plan customers will be able to get the pass for £10, while those on EE’s “Smart” or “Full Works” plans can include the pass as part of their plan.
Since 2017, mobile networks in EU countries have been banned by law from charging customers extra to use their phones in other member countries. Legislation scrapping roaming charges within the single market was introduced after multiple cases of so-called “bill shock”, in which holidaymakers returned home from foreign breaks to be presented with bills of thousands of pounds for using their phones to connect to the internet while abroad.
In January EE, O2, Three and Vodafone all said they had no plans to reintroduce roaming charges even though the UK’s departure from the EU enabled them to do so.
The trade deal between the UK and the EU states that both sides will encourage mobile operators to have “transparent and reasonable rates” when it comes to roaming.
EE’s new charges will not apply to UK customers visiting the Republic of Ireland.
EE said customers travelling abroad for longer than short breaks would be able to sign up to a plan to make the charges more affordable.
