Vodafone to reintroduce EU roaming charges in spite of pledge

Mobile customers are advised to shop around for contracts as operator joins EE in making U-turn

VODAFONE is to reintroduce EU roaming charges despite pledging to waive the fees.

New customers and existing ones who upgrade will face charges of at least £1 a day from January when visiting other European countries.

Vodafone is the second mobile operator after Bt-owned EE to announce it is bringing back the charges.

Roaming charges were banned by an EU ruling in 2017, after which the major telecoms operators said they would not reintroduce them after Brexit.

Announcing its U-turn yesterday, Vodafone said customers without free EU roaming in their package will be able to pay for daily passes of £2 from January. Meanwhile, eight- to 15-day passes will cost £8 and £5 respectively.

The changes will start showing up on plans for new customers from 11 August, but existing customers will be protected from the costs while on their current plan.

EE is enforcing a charge of £2 a day on travellers who join as a new customer, or upgrade their phone after July.

Vodafone said its new roaming charges would not apply to people visiting the Republic of Ireland.

A spokesman for the company said it wanted to ensure customers “don’t ever experience ‘bill shock’” when roaming.

“Fewer than half of our customers roamed beyond the Republic of Ireland in 2019,” he added.

“Rather than have all of our customers affected by including the additional costs of roaming into all of our tariffs, customers will be able to choose a plan that comes with roaming included, or purchase an additional roaming pass.”

The bulk of Vodafone’s European roaming agreements run out in December when it will face higher costs as it negotiates new deals now that Britain is outside the EU.

Sluggish handset sales and lower income from roaming charges triggered a 2.6 per cent decline in Vodafone’s revenues to €43.8bn (£37bn) when it reported annual results in May.

Fewer customers travelling abroad due to restrictions imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus has also hit its roaming income.

Karen Egan, of Enders Analysis, said the move was “inevitable” as it exposed operators to up to €75 (£63) in monthly wholesale charges per customer.

She now expects Virgin Media, O2 and virtual network operators such as Tesco Mobile and Sky to revive roaming charges.

“Free EU roaming has become a highly politically sensitive issue and the operators have been somewhat reluctant to be seen to be reintroducing charges,” she added.

“There was a lot of negative press around O2 when it was simply introducing a fair usage cap which brought it into line with other mobile operators, and even more for EE as the first operator to announce the reintroduction of EU roaming fees back in June.”

Following the announcement, experts encourage customers to shop around when looking for new contracts to take into account roaming charges and costs when they go abroad.

Yet, with more operators expected to follow suit, tourists were warned that the days of looking for local Wi-fi spots or getting a foreign SIM were likely to return for frequent travellers.

Paolo Pescatore, an analyst from PP Foresight, said: “Phone users will now need to be savvier when travelling abroad,” he said.

“Some will have roaming included on higher priced plans and premium devices, while others will be forced to look at switching to Wi-fi and take out local e-sim options.”

Ernest Doku, mobiles expert for the comparison site Uswitch.com, added: “If you’re an existing Vodafone customer, these charges won’t affect you yet, but make sure you check the small print if you’re due an upgrade in the coming months.

“When it comes to travelling, don’t leave it till the last minute to check the roaming charges for your destination, and always use hotel and cafe Wi-fi when on holiday where possible.”