Another network has announced it will be introducing roaming charges in Europe, this time it’s Three a network known for offering international roaming.
The 23rd of May 2022, is the date from which customers who have taken out a new or upgraded contract since the 1st of October will be required to pay £2 per day for their monthly allowance to be available in the EU.
That includes minutes, texts, and data, this is following announcements made by EE and Vodafone earlier this year.
Three is also going to be introducing roaming charges to other countries outside the EU, these will be up to £5 per day.
This is a big move by the mobile network as it has previously prided itself on the ability for all of its customers to roam in 71 countries free of charge.
This is going to make it very difficult for Three to remain as a credible competitor in the UK network market as they still are only piggybacking off the infrastructure of other networks.
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.
“It will also ensure that we can continue investing in our UK network.”
The change will not effect customers in Ireland or the Isle of Man.
Networks are claiming they are having to reintroduce these roaming charges due pressure from rising costs, including wholesale costs, which are higher for UK networks.
The trade deal that has been signed will encourage networks to have “transparent and reasonable rates” for roaming.
There will also be safeguards brought into force by the UK government, to protect consumers from possible big bills.
Included in these is a £45 cap on roaming, which the user will have to opt out of when the cap has been reached.
Networks not to have reintroduced roaming charges include O2 and Sky Mobile, Sky went on the state, “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.”
