UK travellers face hefty increase in data roaming charges after Brexit

After Britain Brexits, there will be no EU regulation to keep the prices low for holidaymakers
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Liz Connor7 April 2017

There’s nothing worse than getting a text from your mobile phone provider, telling you that you’ve spent a small fortune on using the internet abroad.

Now British holidaymakers are being warned to brace themselves for hefty bills when they travel to the European Union after Britain Brexits in 2019.

Yesterday, European Parliament voted in Strasbourg to abolish call, text and data charges for mobile phone users travelling in the EU from June 15 this year.

However, because Britain has voted to leave the European Union, it could be dropped from the arrangement once the decision comes into effect in March 2019.

If this is the case, phone operators will be the ones to dictate the prices of data roaming charges for British holidaymakers.

Finnish MEP Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, who drafted the roaming bill, told the i, “After Brexit, it’s the market, the operators, that will decide the prices,”

“If the UK operators get good deals with other European companies, roaming might be cheap. If not, it can be very expensive.”

While roaming fees in the European Union have been steadily on the decline, they are still high in non-EU countries such as Serbia, where Brits can expect to pay around £3,000 per Gb for mobile data usage.

“After Brexit this will change,” Mrs Kumpula-Natri added. “Britain will be in the same situation as Serbia with no EU regulation to keep the roaming prices low.”

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Theresa May is now tasked with the challenge of striking a deal on roaming alongside the government’s planned trade agreement with the other 27 EU countries.

If a deal cannot be made, then charges are expected to be reinstated for British travellers after less than two years.

Travellers are being warned about the possibility of extortionate price hikes to data roaming charges.

Mobile networks in the EU could charge British travellers eye-watering fees of €50 (£43) every time they listen to a song on Spotify – which would correspond with what visitors from the US currently pay.

The European Commission has already ruled out a quick bilateral deal between the UK and the EU to cover roaming charges, so it will be a while before Brits know exactly how much they’ll be expected to pay.

In the meantime, perhaps it’s time to schedule a digital detox for 2019.

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