One in five holidaymakers unaware of roaming charges

New rules to protect UK customers from unexpected charges and ‘inadvertent roaming' while they are travelling are being proposed by Ofcom, the telecoms regulator. 

Ofcom’s research found that almost one in five holidaymakers (19%) do not know they may have to pay extra for using their mobile phone abroad. Almost as many said they don’t research how much roaming will cost prior to travelling. 

After the UK left the European Union, ‘roam like at home’ was no longer a requirement. Previously, this required mobile networks to alert customers when they were roaming, and about any possible charges. It usually also meant EU roaming posed no extra cost to consumers. However, many providers are now charging for roaming.

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How much does it cost to roam abroad?

Many providers are now charging a daily rate for using your usual allowance of calls, texts and data package while travelling abroad in the EU. Most are charging around £2 a day, with EE being the most expensive at £2.29 a day for contracts, and £2.50 a day for pay-as-you-go. 

All networks set a fair usage limit, but this can vary, with limits such as 5GB, 12GB, 30GB or 50GB. However, some networks continue to offer free EU roaming, including Smarty, Lebara and Giffgaff.

While your network should let you know how much it costs to roam when you arrive at your destination, it's important to check before you leave to ensure you're aware of charges, and can take advantage of any potential benefits to reduce the costs. Bear in mind that travelling outside the EU could mean considerably more expensive roaming charges.

To avoid expensive roaming charges, find out how to switch mobile provider and choose a network that offers you a better deal.

Will I be informed about roaming charges when I travel?

A roaming alert is a message from a mobile network informing the customer that they are roaming, and providing additional information on costs. Travellers find these useful, with 94% aware of them, and 84% reading them. However, Ofcom wants networks to provide more detail.

This impacts behaviour and helps customers avoid extra roaming charges, with 94% rating them as helpful. 72% of people said they modify their behaviour after receiving a roaming alert, most commonly by connecting to wi-fi, using less data or simply switching off data roaming. 

Ofcom’s new rules would require mobile networks to send out mandatory, personalised roaming alerts to customers, including:

• Roaming charges, including fair use limits and the time period covered by daily charges.
• Any mobile bill limit applied to the customer.
• Free-to-access additional information on roaming charges, fair use policies, data monitoring, and how to reduce spending.

Read our guide on five ways to save while roaming to see how picking the right network could help you cut your bills.

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What is inadvertent roaming?

When a device connects to a network in a different country, despite not being in that country, it’s known as inadvertent roaming. Ofcom found 14% of UK mobile customers have experienced this. For example, customers on the English coast may connect to French networks, or customers in Northern Ireland who live close to the border with Ireland, may connect to networks from the neighbouring country. 

Ofcom is seeking extra protections for customers to prevent them from inadvertent roaming. This would require networks to:

• provide information on avoiding inadvertent roaming, both in the UK and abroad.
• enable customers to reduce and/or limit their spend on roaming while in the UK, particularly in Northern Ireland.
• this could include offering special tariffs or handling mobile usage in Ireland as being in the UK, which some providers do already.

five ways to save while roaming

How to avoid roaming charges

It’s possible to avoid or at least reduce costly roaming charges with pre-trip preparation and paying attention to your usage while travelling. 

• Check your terms and set a usage limit - your provider will explain how much roaming costs where you are going, and you can ask them to set a spending cap or mobile bill limit to stop your charges from mounting up once you hit a certain amount. 
• Use wi-fi as much as possible - hotels, apartments, restaurants, bars and public areas often offer free wi-fi, which you can use instead of relying on data.
• Download before travelling, or when you have wi-fi - before leaving, download any music, TV, films or podcasts with wi-fi rather than data. Also consider downloading ahead of time any maps from services such as Google Maps, you might need, which you can then access offline later.

For more details, read our guide explaining mobile roaming costs.

Which? calls for clarity on mobile roaming

As roaming costs can be expensive and confusing for consumers, Which? agrees more needs to be done to ensure clarity on charges.  

Sue Davies, Which? Head of Consumer Protection Policy, said:

'Ofcom is right to introduce new rules to ensure consumers are aware of new roaming charges when travelling abroad. 

'Since Brexit, many UK consumers have seen roaming charges reintroduced when holidaying in the EU - leaving some landed with unexpectedly high mobile bills. These charges can vary, even for customers of the same provider, depending on when you joined or upgraded and the type of contract you have - people should check what charges will apply to them before they travel.

'As the UK continues to negotiate trade deals, it should take the opportunity to lower the cost of roaming for consumers travelling around the world. The UK and EU should also work to strike a deal on roaming charges to stop companies chipping away at the roaming benefits customers have become used to and to ensure the high charges people used to face do not return.'

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