Is this the end of mobile phone data roaming charges abroad?

You may have been notified recently that UK mobile phone usage abroad will no longer be subject to the hefty charges, thanks in part to the introduction of new EU regulations.

This is great news for mobile users and means that people on holiday or visiting family abroad will now be able to call, text and browse anywhere in the European Union within their contract allowance at no extra cost.

Sounds good, where’s the catch?

Well, it is good, but you may need to double-check a few things. Each mobile operator has different fair usage caps, which as one of their customers, you need to be aware of. On top of this, each network casts their free-to-roam coverage to include different places.

So, in order to benefit, it’s best to check what the deal is in the country you are visiting.

Just to be clear, the following countries are all included by all mobile phone companies:

Austria
Azores
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canary Islands
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
French Guiana
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Guadeloupe
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madeira
Malta
Martinique
Poland
Portugal
Reunion Islands
Romania
Saint Barthelemy
Saint Martin
San Marino
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
The Netherlands
Vatican City

Covered by EE, O2, Vodafone, iD, Three, Giff Gaff

Iceland

Norway

Liechtenstein

Additional countries covered by EE, O2 Pay Monthly, Vodafone, Three, iD

Guernsey

Jersey

Switzerland

Isle of Man

Included by EE and Vodafone, iD, O2 Pay Monthly

Monaco

EE’s fair usage: You can use up to 15GB of data with EE. Those who go beyond their contract limit or beyond the 15GB cap can buy an add-on. You get 100MB for 78p, 500MB for £3.90 and 1GB for £7.80.

O2’s fair usage: Pay as you go – The O2 website says that those on a £30 Big Bundle with a 20GB data allowance do have a cap for ‘fair usage’ while in Europe of 10GB. It costs 0.00597p per MB after that.

Pay Monthly – You can use your whole data allowance. For extra data beyond your limit you can add a Bolt On – the options and cost are the same as if you were in the UK.

Vodafone’s fair usage: There is no fair usage cap for Vodafone customers.

As a Vodafone customer you can use all of your data allowance when travelling abroad. To add a bundle it costs £6 for 1GB and £10 for 2GB as a Pay Monthly customer, if you don’t buy one of these you pay £6.50 for every 250MB.

iD’s fair usage: The amount of data you can use will depend on what your limits are and how much you pay each month – you can check here.

But as an example, someone paying £30 per month for 10GB of data will have a cap of 7.68GB.

The charge for going beyond your limit is 0.076p per MB.

Three’s fair usage: The amount of data you can use will depend on what your limits are and how much you pay each month – you can check here.

But as an example, someone paying £30 per month for 10GB of data will have a cap of 7.68GB.

The charge for going beyond your limit is 0.076p per MB.

Giff Gaff’s fair usage: Once you use up your data allowance, you will be charged 0.78p per MB while roaming, or you can start your next plan early.