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posted by martyb on Friday September 14 2018, @03:19AM   Printer-friendly
from the when-in-Rome,-charge-as-the-roamers-do? dept.

Free mobile phone roaming 'not guaranteed' with a no-deal Brexit

Britons visiting the EU could be hit with mobile phone roaming charges in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said the government would try to force firms to limit charges but he could not give a "cast iron guarantee" on the issue. The EU directive which capped the prices mobile phone operators could charge each other will no longer apply to the UK after Brexit.

Mr Raab said that two mobile operators had agreed to keep free data roaming. And the government is proposing to cap any data charges at £45 a month.

In an interview with BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg, the Brexit secretary said the government was trying to give the "reassurance that consumers need" on the issue of mobile phone roaming charges but admitted that European operators could pass on charges. He said: "No, I can't give a cast-iron guarantee. What I can say is that the government would legislate to limit the ability of roaming charges to be imposed on customers."


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @09:50AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @09:50AM (#734759)

    That "small fee" was at best available with full plans, which in themselves are at least $10 more than a prepaid plan.
    On the prepaid plans, the price was $7/week for 400 MB.
    So if you were lucky, we are talking about $15 to $30/month extra! Maybe in the US that's considered a "small fee", after all some people there seem to think paying $80 and more a month for a mobile phone plan is normal, but around here that is more like doubling the price!

  • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Friday September 14 2018, @02:15PM

    by zocalo (302) on Friday September 14 2018, @02:15PM (#734828)
    Actually, it varied quite a bit even within full contracts or PAYG as to how much the add-on bundles cost and were applied. Some countries - especially where you were "roaming" between different branches of the same telco, tended to have much more economical packages (albeit still very stingy on call and data allowances), others were more expensive but could be managed by judicious use of flight modes, and the rest was generally a choice between getting a SIM on arrival (assuming that was possible without being a resident) or just leaving your phone at home. All of which required you to do your homework before hand, including pricing up the various options at your destination - which wasn't particularly hard, but still a far cry from the convenience of just not having to think about it at all.

    For USians, keep in mind that many UK citizens mostly vacation within the EU and have more vacation time (typically between 20-30 days per year), so this would be like having to check for roaming charges every time you crossed a state boundary, acquire any necessary SIMs, and having to pay (again, typically) as much as your standard contract again each time you did so, all with no refunds for unused credits. No, it's not much in the grand scheme of things, but it was quite a big deal for many in the EU at the time, and I'm pretty sure that a lot of those who really had to scrimp even to afford a discount package holiday for the family both appreciated the saving and won't like it should it return to how it was.
    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!