Free EU roaming

[dinnertime]

Eu roaming charges seem to be very much on the way back for UK customers. As many of us in the UK will now be returning, or thinking of returning, to international travel as covid restrictions ease, is it time for government action on this to compel these companies to remove these unjustified charges?

[Goblin59]

Just buy cheap burner sim or get an E sim download, you can get 30gb for under a tenner and a months usage

[globetrekker]

This is good to know because I am planning on seeing my family in the USA in July and don't want to end up with a massive bill at the end of the holiday. I might just get a PAYG SIM and top it up and use that while I am out there. 

[mdoyle1981]

Should we be able to use our texts calls and data abroad as we do at home without being charged like we use too?

[globetrekker]

That is a good question as I am planning to visit family in the USA in July and want to be able to use my phone and data and not come back home to a huge surprise bill.  I would be gutted if that happened. 😑

[sc1999]

We need someone with some knowledge of how the mobile companies charge each other for roaming. Is there an actual cost involved for the networks or is it a way of making extra profit? Considering that all of these processes must be automated I cannot see what costs are involved other than additional wear and tear on the network infrastructure.

Maybe we need to go back to the old days and buy a cheap SIM when we get there. Amazon Spain sells a 25Gb card for 18 Euro so I imagine there must be cheap cards available for other EU countries. Not sure about the US as their mobile charges are high.

Moderator, please note that I am not trying to be too intense, whatever that means.

[dvy2021]

If laws are removed saying that companies can't do something, they are likely to do it. So when we left the EU, if there was the opportunity to charge customers more, mobile companies were going to do it. It really needs legislation from government to stop people feeling the pinch, especially with the cost of living crisis. 

Anyway, steering away from politics as the mods probably don't like that :-), practically i would get myself a burner phone on one of the networks that hasn't reintroduced charges if i was going for a longer period, and make use of free wifi when i can if not. Almost all hotels and accommodations now offer wifi (although not always free, it should prove better value than roaming), and a lot of town centres particularly in southern Europe have a city wide network. 

Anyway, as a message to Three, i would say please bring back free roaming. For a network that made a big amount of noise about roaming just a few years ago, it was disappointing to see them bring back charging so quickly. 

[Springwater35]

I would love to see free International roaming charges return as I think £5.00 a day is well over the top. I also think the data cap is to low as well 

[coglioncello]

Most of the UK operators are keeping free roaming...the roaming charges 3 has introduced are excessive. Can this be escalated please? 

[JonathanB]

Hi coglioncello,

We appreciate that the free Go Roam was a fantastic benefit of Three contracts over the years. The decision to introduce daily charges was a difficult one, and only made after careful consideration, and we've made every effort to keep the charges to a minimum.

We're always happy to pass on feedback though, thanks for continuing to contribute to the Three Community.

JonathanB

[sc1999]

Jonathan, how about a lesson in roaming economics? Who charges who? Does 3 charge foreign networks and do they charge 3 or is it another profit centre?