Vodafone to Bring Back EU Roaming Charges for UK Customers Abroad

Vodafone is bringing back roaming charges for U.K. users traveling in Europe, the second mobile operator do so post-Brexit after originally saying they had no plans to re-introduce them.

Vodafone 2
New and upgrading customers on "selected plans" will be charged at least £1 per day to use their mobile phone in EU destinations.

The rules will change for new and upgrading customers from Wednesday, August 11, though the charges will not apply until January, BBC News reports.

"Existing customers will not be impacted by these changes while they remain on their current price plan, and roaming in the Republic of Ireland will still be included for all customers," Vodafone said.

After January, affected customers will pay £2 a day to use their allowance in Europe, or £1 if bought in an eight or 15-day bundle. Fair-usage limits of 25GB of roaming data a month apply.

Before the U.K. formally exited the European Union, mobile customers generally didn't have to worry about roaming charges when using their phone in the EU, with most phone tariffs counting calls, texts, and data used in EU countries as equivalent to domestic use since 2017.

However, when the EU trade deal was signed in December 2020, mobile operators were once again able to charge customers when traveling in Europe with "transparent and reasonable rates."

EE was the first operator to announce new roaming charges in June. EE's charges go into effect in January 2022, and at first, only apply to new EE customers or customers upgrading their plan and contract from July 7, 2021.

Originally, EE, O2, Three, and Vodafone, representing the largest mobile operators in the U.K., stated they had no plans to reintroduce roaming charges after Brexit, but all have since announced changes, some under a "fair use" clause. O2 allows a roaming limit of 25GB, with any data used over that charged at £3.50 per gigabyte, while Three has cut its data limit from 20GB a month to 12GB.

Top Rated Comments

willed Avatar
21 months ago
Yet another Brexit win ? Thanks guys!
Score: 82 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SmugMaverick Avatar
21 months ago
Taking back control ?

Cheers to all those morons who wanted “freedom”.

These disgusting networks were always going to do this, shame people didn’t want to accept that maybe the EU were looking out for us
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SmugMaverick Avatar
21 months ago

I don't know what's going on over there, but if you're looking to the EU to regulate your cell network pricing, that's pretty sad. Regards from your step-son country in North America.
They protected us from roaming charges across Europe, we were still ripped off in the uk.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Substance90 Avatar
21 months ago
Good luck to all the UK tourists - 8 out of the top 10 holiday destinations for brits are in the EU.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
laptech Avatar
21 months ago
As others have said, it was always going to happen. It was the EU that put the pressure on the mobile network operators to do away with roaming charges. The network operators have never liked it because it cut off a very good revenue stream for the network operators. Having the UK leave the EU means the UK mobile network operators are no longer constrained by EU law hence the re-introduction of roaming charges.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mahasamatman Avatar
21 months ago

If those who have no need for EU roaming can genuinely get a better price than they are paying now on one of these new tariff's then I dont see this as so bad - although I suspect most company's who re-introduce these will just pocket the extra!
Except they can’t get a better price. This is on top of the standard monthly charges and because the carriers will all do it, there’s no competitive option where people can reduce their costs by switching, other than the competition in the market for UK only access. it’s in effect a cartel and not good for the consumer.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro Buttons CAD Leak

iPhone 15 Pro Leak Reveals Unified Volume Button and Mute Button

Monday March 20, 2023 8:33 am PDT by
As previously rumored, the next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature a unified volume button and a mute button, according to leaked CAD images shared in a video on the Chinese version of TikTok and posted to Twitter by ShrimpApplePro. Instead of separate buttons for volume up and volume down, the iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to have a single elongated button for...
iOS 16

iOS 16.4 for iPhone Nearing Launch With These 5 New Features

Monday March 20, 2023 11:50 am PDT by
Apple says iOS 16.4 is coming in the spring, which began this week. In his Sunday newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the update should be released "in the next three weeks or so," meaning a public release is likely in late March or early April. iOS 16.4 remains in beta testing and introduces a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone. Below, we have recapped five new features ...
original iphone auction

Factory-Sealed Original iPhone Sells for $55,000 at Auction

Friday March 17, 2023 1:08 pm PDT by
A first-generation iPhone still sealed inside its box sold for $54,904 at auction, which is more than $54,000 over the original $599 price tag of the device when it was released in 2007. The original iPhone was put up for sale by RR Auction on behalf of a former Apple employee who purchased it back when it first came out. Back in February, an original, sealed iPhone sold for over $63,000,...
voice isolation

iOS 16.4 Adds Voice Isolation for Cellular Phone Calls

Tuesday March 21, 2023 11:01 am PDT by
The iOS 16.4 update that is set to be released to the public in the near future includes voice isolation for cellular calls, according to notes that Apple shared today. Apple says that Voice Isolation will prioritize your voice and block out the ambient noise around you, making for clearer phone calls where you can better hear the person you're chatting with and vice versa. Voice...
iPhone 12 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro Feature

iPhone 12 Pro vs. 15 Pro: New Features to Expect if You've Waited to Upgrade

Friday March 17, 2023 10:29 am PDT by
While year-over-year iPhone upgrades are not always groundbreaking, new features can begin to stack up over multiple generations. For example, the iPhone 15 Pro will be a notable upgrade for those who still have a three-year-old iPhone 12 Pro. If you are still using an iPhone 12 Pro and are considering upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro when it launches later this year, we have put together a...
top stories 18mar2023

Top Stories: iPhone 15 Pro Pricing, New iOS 16.4 Beta, Siri vs. ChatGPT, and More

Saturday March 18, 2023 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's high-end iPhone models have started at $999 in the U.S. since they first launched back in 2017 with the iPhone X, but could this finally be the year that starting price sees an increase? This week also saw some more rumors about Apple's upcoming headset and the company's explorations in the booming AI industry as well as the release of a new round of beta updates, so read on for all...
smart monitor m8 samsung

Deals: Samsung's iMac-Like Smart Monitor M8 Drops to Lowest Price of Year So Far With $250 Discount

Monday March 20, 2023 8:27 am PDT by
Samsung today kicked off a special "Discover Samsung" event, which will be a week-long savings event focusing on Samsung monitors, smartphones, TVs, appliances, and more. While some deals will stick around the entire week (through March 26), others will refresh every day. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...