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- You can roam and use O2 within most countries around the world. You can use your regular allowance for free within 48 European countries, with a data fair usage policy of 25GB per month.
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Jan 6, 2022 · O2 roaming charges: What is changing? Thankfully for O2 customers, going on holiday in Europe should not cost much extra – if anything at all – as the phone provider has kept its ‘Europe Zone’ package live following Brexit.
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What if I’m travelling outside O2’s Europe Zone, with a Spend Cap? If you’re travelling outside of our Europe Zone and your destination isn’t covered by O2 Travel, or you haven’t opted into it, then receiving calls will cost £2 a minute, texts are free to receive and 50p to send.
If your UK monthly data allowance is over 25GB, you’ll have a Roaming Limit of 25GB when roaming in our Europe Zone. This means you can use up to 25GB of your allowance at no extra cost- we’ll text you if you’re getting close to the limit, and again if you reach it.
- Overview
- What are roaming charges?
- Roaming on EE
- Roaming on Vodafone
- Roaming on Three
- Roaming on O2
- Roaming on other networks
- How else can you avoid roaming charges when abroad?
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News
By James Peckham
last updated 10 January 2022
Roaming is getting more expensive for almost everyone
(Image credit: Getty Images)
It was perhaps inevitable, but one of the side effects of Brexit is that European roaming charges are now returning for those in the UK for at least three networks with some others reducing fair use limits.
Roaming charges refer to an extra cost you pay on top of your standard phone contract minutes, SMS and data allowance when using your phone abroad. Holidaymakers racking up thousands of pounds in bills used to be a regular feature of news headlines.
Since 2017, the EU’s ‘Roam Like at Home’ initiative banned mobile networks from charging for roaming within member states. This applied equally to Brits abroad and EU citizens in the UK.
Brexit has now changed that, and citizens of the UK are no longer covered by 'Roam Like at Home' by default.
Sue Davies, Head of Consumer Protection Policy at Which? said, “As the UK continues to negotiate trade deals, it should grasp the opportunity to lower the cost of roaming for consumers travelling around the world.
Roaming across Europe (other than Ireland) on EE will soon be a lot more expensive as the company has introduced a £2 per day charge to access your usual allowance of minutes, texts and data when roaming in 47 European destinations.
That’s a big change from the free roaming that was previously offered. This only impacts new and upgrading customers who took out an EE plan after July 7, 2021.
The charges were originally meant to be introduced in January 2022, but the company has now delayed its rollout until March 3, 2022.
One way to avoid these charges is with a 30-day Roam Abroad Pass, which you’ll be able to select as a perk on Smart and Full Works plans. These are premium plans and the perks you get don’t cost extra, but choosing this would presumably mean you won’t be able to take one of the other optional benefits.
If you’re not on one of these pricey plans then you can also pay £10 for a 30-day Roam Abroad Pass. So if you’re planning to roam for more than five days in a given month then that could be a cheaper option.
There are seemingly no caps here, meaning you can presumably use up to unlimited data (if you have an unlimited data plan) for that £2 per day, or with the Roam Abroad Pass.
Vodafone will soon charge customers £2 a day to access their own allowances in the European Union. If you buy either an eight day or 15 day roaming pass, that cost will drop to the equivalent of £1 per day.
This impacts new and upgrading customers who took out their contract after August 21, 2021. So if you've previously signed up before that date, you won't yet be affected by these changes.
Three announced on September 9, 2021, that it would be reintroducing roaming charges, and it will also drop its Go Roam benefits so this also impacts those traveling to United States, Australia and more.
Customers will have to pay £2 per day to access their own allowances in European Union countries, while the cost rises to £5 per day in the US and other previous Go Roam destinations. The Republic of Ireland and Isle of Man are both exempt from these changes.
The changes will take effect on May 23, 2022. If you signed up for a new contract - or renewed your contract - by October 1, 2021, you won't be impacted by these changes and you'll be free to use your allowances when roaming throughout your contract.
A spokesperson for Three said, "The new charge ensures that customers are clear on what they will pay when using their phone in another country and only those who roam will pay for the service."
The destinations affected by the European Union changes on Three are Aland Islands, Austria, Azores, Balearic Islands, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Vatican City.
The other destinations - that cost £5 per a day - are Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Israel, Sri Lanka, United States, Brazil, El Salvador, Peru, Chile, Guatemala, Uruguay, Colombia, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Australia and New Zealand.
From August 2, 2021, O2 started applying a 25GB cap to European roaming allowances, meaning that if you have a data allowance of over 25GB, you’ll only be able to use up to 25GB per month for roaming in Europe at no extra cost.
Obviously if your domestic data allowance is less than 25GB then you can use your full allowance. If you go over your roaming allowance then you’ll be charged £3.50 per gigabyte.
It’s worth noting that customers on unlimited data plans already have this restriction, and that according to O2, fewer than 1% of the company’s pay monthly customers get close to using 25GB of data when roaming anyway.
So this is unlikely to affect many people, but it does mean that if you are a heavy data user in Europe then things could get quite expensive – though O2 will text you when you approach your limit and again when you reach it, so there shouldn’t be any surprises.
There’s currently no limit to how many minutes or texts you can use while roaming in these places (within your UK allowance). O2 has also confirmed it won't be changing its roaming fees in 2022, but it hasn't promised it won't make further changes in future years.
These changes apply to roaming in O2’s ‘Europe Zone’, meaning Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion, Romania, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Vatican City.
Many smaller UK networks have yet to reveal plans, but we've asked each for an update. We've heard back from Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile, and you can read statements from each network below.
Virgin Mobile
“We’re starting the year [2022] by giving our customers some certainty: we will not be reintroducing roaming fees in Europe for customers on Virgin Mobile."
Sky Mobile
"Sky Mobile customers will not be charged roaming charges in EU countries and will be able to continue to use their data, call and text allowances as they do in the UK."
Tesco Mobile
The good news is that these days you can travel without having to rely on your phone signal alone. Wi-Fi hotspots are fast, reliable and everywhere. And they're easy to find thanks to WiFi Map.
Just make sure you turn roaming off in your settings. Not making calls or using the internet isn’t enough – as your phone could still be using data in the background.
If you need a mobile connection that’s... you know, mobile and not tethered to a particular place, you can buy local SIM cards in some countries. But your phone will have to be unlocked and you might still pay extra to call the UK.
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Jun 24, 2021 · O2 has announced it will be introducing a fair usage cap of 25GB when roaming in the EU from August - but not the end of free roaming, yet.
Jun 10, 2024 · For example, if you’re an O2 customer with 15GB of data and EU roaming included, you can use your 15GB abroad just as you would at home. This includes everything from accessing social media and...
Mar 23, 2018 · O2, meanwhile, restricts travelers to 120 minutes and 120 texts per day, although it doesn’t apply a cap to international data usage. The increased free roaming coverage will be available to...
