EE has become the first mobile network to announce the reintroduction of roaming charges following the UK’s exit from the EU.
Customers who join the network or upgrade from 7 July will have to pay £2 per day to use their monthly data allowances while visiting European destinations from January 2022. The only EU country where this will not apply is the Republic of Ireland.
Prior to Brexit, EU law introduced 2017 prohibited mobile operators in the UK from charging for international data roaming in Europe.
Until now, the UK’s major mobile networks have suggested they would not bring back the charges following Brexit, but never entirely committed to this. Instead most said they had “no current plans” to do so.
EE’s about turn sets the stages for other operators to follow suit, and comes after O2 announced plans to add a “fair use” data cap, charging customers in Europe who exceed their monthly 25GB data allowance £3.50 for every gigabyte of data used.
Commenting on EE’s volte face, Ernest Doku, a spokesman for price comparison site USwitch, said: “In the aftermath of Brexit, the UK’s biggest mobile providers all said that they had no immediate plans to change their charging models for consumers roaming within the EU.
“It’s hugely disappointing for consumers to see that situation change so quickly.”
He added: “EE says the move will support investment in its UK-based services, but this is ultimately a backwards step for consumers.
“Unfortunately, when one provider makes such a bold decision it can mean that others follow, so we’ll be watching to see what O2, Vodafone and Three do next.”
