Ludicrous claims have circulated on both sides of the Brexit debate, and now some warnings about the future of mobile roaming are being used to alarm UK telecoms consumers.
The latest contention suggests a return to the old days of mobile roaming charges.
Eliminating roaming fees across Europe is widely regarded as one of the EU’s notable consumer achievements. Many travellers appreciated escaping the “bill shock” that could follow a short trip abroad.
However, roaming charges were already declining before the EU formalised rules—and many operators had extended no-roaming arrangements beyond Europe. As it became harder for carriers to differentiate their services, removing roaming fees became a competitive necessity.
One early example was UK operator Three’s “Feel At Home” initiative, which allowed customers to use their UK allowances across Europe and in numerous other destinations, including the US, Hong Kong, Australia and dozens more countries.
Now that the UK is preparing to leave the EU, some anti-Brexit voices have raised the prospect that roaming charges could return.
Any operator that tried to reintroduce roaming fees would likely face strong customer backlash and risk losing subscribers to rivals. Reversing a consumer-friendly trend is far harder than maintaining or expanding it.
Legislation such as the EU Withdrawal Bill, which brings many EU rules into UK law, signals that the government intends to keep business and consumer arrangements as stable as possible during the transition. If operators did begin to reintroduce roaming fees, lawmakers could act to prevent that outcome.
On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, then-Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said two major operators—Vodafone and Three—had pledged not to restore roaming charges for UK customers. Raab added that if other providers did not follow suit, the government would consider using legislation to stop them.
There are many valid arguments on both sides of the Brexit debate, but stoking fears about the wholesale return of roaming fees risks repeating the pre-referendum scaremongering. In a country divided by politics, avoiding unnecessary alarm is important.
25/06/21 update: For transparency, UK operator EE announced a £2 daily EU roaming charge for new customers starting next year unless they add the “Roam Further” benefit to their plans. Other networks have largely upheld earlier commitments not to reinstate roaming fees, though some have reduced their fair-usage caps.
Whether EE’s policy will be reversed in response to customer backlash, or whether the government will follow through on promises to legislate against roaming charges similar to EU rules, remains to be seen. An opinion piece published on 25 June 2021 discusses this development with the information available nearly three years after the referendum.
Interested in industry discussions and real-world use cases? Industry events such as IoT Tech Expo, Blockchain Expo, AI & Big Data Expo and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo bring together leaders to explore the future of enterprise technology at events held in locations including Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam.