Data roaming: O2 announces charges for visitors to EU following Brexit agreement

O2 customers have been alerted to a change in the company’s roaming charges, following the Brexit agreement which no longer enforces free EU roaming.

The announcement was made on the fifth anniversary of when the UK voted in favour of Brexit.

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At a glance: 5 key points

- O2 customers have been told that they will be charged £3.50 for every GB of data used above the new limit of 25GB.

- It was announced to customers that the changes to the O2 policy would be implemented from 2 August.

- When Brexit came into action on 1 January 2021, UK mobile phone providers were no longer legally required to offer free roaming in the EU, however a number of companies continued to do so.

- Roaming charges were scrapped across the EU in 2017.

- Phone companies are required to alert customers when they have reached 80 per cent of their data allowance, and again when they have reached 100 per cent.

What’s been said

An O2 Spokesperson told The Sun Online: “Less than one per cent of our Pay Monthly customers reach anywhere near 25GB during occasional travel to Europe.

“If a customer’s UK monthly data allowance is over 25GB, from 2 August they will have a Roaming Limit of 25GB when roaming in our Europe Zone.

“This means they can use up to 25GB of their allowance at no extra cost – we’ll text them if they get close to the limit, and again if they reach it.

“A customer can still use data if they reach our Roaming Limit, but will be charged £3.50/GB.”

Background

The Christmas Eve trade agreement which was signed by the UK did not include a deal to continue the ban on roaming charges.

On 1 January 2021 when Brexit came into effect, mobile phone providers were no longer legally required to offer free EU roaming services.

Instead, the agreement simply encouraged providers to have “transparent and reasonable rates”.

In January, the main providers in the UK all pledged not to reintroduce roaming charges. These providers included Vodafone, BT, EE, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin - and O2.

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