Brits Haven't Had to Pay Mobile Roaming Charges in the EU Since 2017 — That's Now Set to Change

• Britain's top mobile network operator EE announced it would bring back mobile roaming charges, starting next year.
• Roaming charges are additional fees charged for making calls, sending texts and using internet data whilst overseas.
• Since 2017, Europeans have been able to use their regular call, text and data allowances while traveling anywhere in the EU at no extra cost.

LONDON — From Jan. 2022, some Brits will have to start paying to use their phone in European Union countries again.

On Thursday, Britain's top mobile network operator EE announced it would bring back mobile roaming charges, starting next year.

The BT-owned carrier will introduce a new flat fee of £2 ($2.78) a day for customers using their data, minutes or texts while traveling to EU countries — with the exception of Ireland, which is included in EE's domestic plans.

"This will apply only to new and upgrading customers signing up to EE from the 7th July 2021 and will support investment into our U.K. based customer service and leading U.K. network," an EE spokesperson told CNBC.

There will also be a 30-day "Roam Abroad Pass" for which customers can pay £10 to use their phone in the EU for longer periods of time.

What are roaming charges?

Roaming charges are additional fees charged for making calls, sending texts and using internet data while overseas. They apply as soon as a phone connects to a foreign network.

But since 2017, mobile phone users in Europe have been able to use their regular call, text and internet allowances while traveling anywhere in the EU at no extra cost.

That was thanks to new rules which abolished data roaming charges across the bloc — part of efforts to forge a "Digital Single Market" across EU member states.

After the Brexit vote in 2016, there were fears that roaming fees may be reintroduced as the U.K. would no longer be a member of the EU.

The major British carriers — which include EE, Vodafone, Three and O2 — had said they had no plans to reintroduce roaming charges in Europe, despite the fact that they could do so under the U.K.-EU trade agreement signed in Dec. 2020.

But this week, EE came out as the first mobile operator to bring back roaming charges.

'Poisonous term'

Kester Mann, director of consumer and connectivity at CCS Insight, said the move reflected a "failure by U.K. telecom operators to stem the long-term decline in average customer spend amid heavy investment in future fixed-line and mobile networks."

"Roaming is a poisonous term for consumers after travelers were hit by exorbitant prices for years," he added. "The company knows it will not be well received by its customers, and that it has handed on a plate a clear marketing opportunity to rivals."

Vodafone, Three and O2 told CNBC they had no plans to bring back roaming charges. However, Three is reducing a "fair use" limit on how much data their customers can use while in an EU country.

From July 1, Three's fair use limit will go down to 12GB from 20GB. Customers that go over those restrictions will have to pay a surcharge based on how much extra data they use. Vodafone and O2 have both imposed limits of 25GB.