Three Becomes Latest UK Mobile Operator to Bring Back EU Roaming Charges

[ruka.snow]

Blue passports

The red ones are more 'British'. Blue makes me thing of my own home, not the butchers apron.

 

[ruka.snow]

Wow, lots of people willing to give up their independence for £2 a day.

Nothing was lost in the EU. But a heck of a lot has be lost since leaving, including free roaming when visiting family, friends, and colleagues on the main land.

 

[darthbane2k]

I can't believe 6 years later people like you are still peddling lies. You have already been disproven by other people here, but as for zero benefits, you posted in a story about 3 reintroducing roaming charges, when that wasn't allowed when we were in the EU. As for your alternatives to going online, we didn't have to think of this before. Workarounds to things we have lost is not a benefit to Brexit. As for corrupt politicians, poverty, etc. has that changed? You think British politicians are not corrupt or inept? Do you deliberately ignore daily news articles about this? Has poverty now ended in the UK? The fact that you mention Diane Abbott's mistake from years ago but ignore people in the current government's numerous daily mistakes (including Priti Patel's problems with numbers) says it all. I'm surprised you haven't mentioned Jeremy Corbyn or Labour government from over a decade ago.

It is interesting that you haven't mentioned a single benefit to Brexit.

Bravo! 👏

 

[ian87w]

This is true, but UK citizens will face more deregulation like this, and it won't be fun for them.

Yes, well, there is not. The cost of setting up a cellular carrier is far too high for healthy competition. As a result, there are only four actual networks in the UK, and that's just nowhere near enough to actually drive down prices.

For roaming, those carriers are not competing domestically, they will be competing with local carriers of various countries and also international ones. Besides, everybody else doesn't seem to have an issue using local SIMs when traveling. Are you saying Britons are so dumbfounded and have no resourcefulness that they will just pay up roaming?

In the end, this is a non issue. It's not an issue anywhere else in the world.

 

[beanbaguk]

Can anyone tell me any actual benefit that we (the UK) has from leaving the EU? Because I am struggling to see any.

• Old people who reminisce on the "old-times" which they seem to think "life was better back then", but the fact is they will all be dead in 20 years leaving a total shambles for the new generation to mop up. (ie, my son who I am going to be changing his nationality to remain in the EU). Plus, lets not forget, that generation begged to join the EU after rejecting it the first time around. What resulted was the cushiest deal any EU nation had.
• Nationalist racists who have an issue with hard-working Europeans (or any other nation). (Note there is an employment shortage for the "menial jobs". There are two generations of lazy, self-entitled benefit grabbing wasters who feel unskilled and also skilled jobs are below them so they live of the state.
• The social media fools who lapped up the lies and deceit from a filthy Brexit campaign. Can somebody tell me where that extra £350m per week is for the NHS and other services? As far as I last heard, you're still paying the EU and there are no "deals" made in the common market.

The person running the country is the biggest liar, corrupt and incompetent prime minister in years.

It's sad, that to keep my EU rights, I will be changing my citizenship after just under another couple of years.

The EU isn't perfect. Far from it; But leaving is the worst decision Britain has ever made.

 

[rob1234]

Another option is to use an e-sim as your main phone line, and add a local sim for data when you travel. Works out cheaper and you can still call local numbers

I use the app Airalo and so far its been great, loads the sim straight on and has many different countries and packs.

 

[Morgenland]

Good bye, United "Kingdom"

 

[ian87w]

Put in new sim, lose phone number. Someone calls me, call goes nowhere.
Someone sends me SMS, I never see it.

LOL. Have you heard of dual SIM? They can still call and text you. You can just respond via whatsapp or other methods. Besides, if you want to be contacted, you would be telling those people that you are overseas. So many messaging services out there that it's baffling you're so troubled with this.

 

[darthbane2k]

Brexit was merely a symbolic victory to a group of bigots and (most commonly) racists lead by the great snake oil salesman who now happens to be PM. Unfortunately they have the loudest voice right now due to the toxic environment within the UK and sadly we all have to pay for their decision.

 

[robrandtoul]

Bravo! 👏

I wonder what it is about Diane Abbot that would cause him to bring it up after all these years.

Hmmm. A Brexiter and a dislike of Diane Abbot. What factor could possibly be at play?

 

[robrandtoul]

Brexit was merely a symbolic victory to a group of bigots and (most commonly) racists lead by the great snake oil salesman who now happens to be PM. Unfortunately they have the loudest voice right now due to the toxic environment within the UK and sadly we all have to pay for their decision.

Spot on. It maybe the case that not everyone who voted for Brexit was a racist, but every racist voted for Brexit. Lay with dogs, catch fleas.

 

[ruka.snow]

• The social media fools who lapped up the lies and deceit from a filthy Brexit campaign. Can somebody tell me where that extra £350m per week is for the NHS and other services? As far as I last heard, you're still paying the EU and there are no "deals" made in the common market.

Isn't that coming out of my paycheque now? And increase in NI instead of tax so the people of Scotland have to once again fund England and get pennies back on the pound. If it where a TAX then it would only have affected England and only benefited England. Regardless, I hope random strangers in another country enjoy my extra tax contributions so they don't have to look after their own gran.

 

[darthbane2k]

I wonder what it is about Diane Abbot that would cause him to bring it up after all these years.

Hmmm. A Brexiter and a dislike of Diane Abbot. What factor could possibly be at play?

I bet he watches GB 'News' too! 🤣

 

[Don1985]

The EU is a failed socialist club, with Holland, Italy & Greece (both bankrupt economies), Denmark, Poland and Hungary thinking about leaving as well. UK taxpayers paid £14 billion pa, a loss of £14 billion pa, for this club with zero benefits (apart from straight cucumbers). You really don't need the Internet for anything whilst on holiday, you can still get it with free wifi. It was an idea I originally thought would be good to compete with the USA, until I found out how it is funded, and how flawed it is. You do know EU bureaucrats don't pay a penny in tax? VAT rates vary in every country, laws varies in every country, incomes vary in every country, China & Japan weren't superpowers back then. The EU has failed in everything. Poverty still exists and is growing in most EU countries. So what is the point of the EU? Leaving was the best decision and will be proven, as the EU can't carry on with Diane Abbotts maths or economic policies. Don't forget the UK nearly went bust in 1976, just 2 years after joining the nirvana the EU was promised to be. One disaster after another.

You have mentioned many reasons why the EU is bad, now give some examples of how the UK is better off so far since Brexit.

I'm sure the list will be very long...

 

[211]

But they are not operating in a vacuum. There are local operators, international roaming mobile hotspots, and also international SIMs offering universal roaming SIMs, which made easy by eSIM. As a consumer, you have plenty of options. Why would you be whining about the carriers and still give them more money? Everybody else in the world have no issues using local SIMs when traveling.

The point is that no roaming in the EU was one less thing to think about, now we do. Wouldn't it be better that there are no roaming charges in the world at all, rather having to get a local SIM all the time? At least the EU did that for its countries in Europe.

 

[rob1234]

Put in new sim, lose phone number. Someone calls me, call goes nowhere.
Someone sends me SMS, I never see it.

You can keep your normal sim as primary for calls and texts but no data and then get a data only Esim

 

[Manatlt]

Wow, lots of people willing to give up their independence for £2 a day.

What independence? What is this "independence" was I giving up? This is BS and you know it.

 

[beanbaguk]

Can you tell us what benefits we had over 50 years? We managed before joining, and struggled ever since. We did get straight cucumbers. Remember the wine mountain, milk mountain, butter mountain, olive oil mountain? Mass production of produce no one wanted, until the Germans told France to stop their nonsense as it was bankrupting the EU. Lived through 7 secession since joining the EU. Can't the EU run anything properly? They are a glorified council. And look how all councils perform. Glad we left, the future is bright and not tied down, with dictators, unelected overpaid civil servants, wokie snowflakes who lack any skills, who lack any competency, they really couldn't run a bath. Just look how they handled the COVID crisis. This is how they have run the EU for 50 years.

You really did lap up the Leave campaign propaganda.

• Straight cucumbers and the like were abandoned in 2008 (but came about as a result of nations wanting quality standards in their foods).
• "Butter mountain" as you put it, kept many of Britains farmers in business and their lives afloat. Without it, at the time, the dairy industry would have been decimated. (But you'd blame the EU for that too, right?)
• If you hadn't noticed, the recessions you noticed were global, so you could hardly blame the EU. Blame the bankers who continually cause this balls up.

You are now by yourself. As I said, I have abandoned the UK for good as it serves nothing to me. Before I was a British European living where I wanted.

Now I'm a detached Brit living with no rights, no vote, no say, no nothing in Europe and I will revel and celebrate gaining citizenship in an EU country once again, and take back the rights that gave me the opportunity to live where I wanted, with total freedom.

If you cannot see that, you have clearly never lived and benefitted from the system. But for all its flaws (and as I repeat myself over and over, there are plenty), I am a huge believer of the EU as its given me the most wonderful life.

If you think you don't have a dictatorship and corrupt nation, just look at Johnson and his vile wife. Using all your taxpayer money and sifting it to his old-boys club. Those who voted him in, I believe were naive, foolish and too ignorant to understand what they were doing.

 

[kerr]

if Brexit causes another Scottish vote for independence, then it was worth it

 

[211]

LOL. Have you heard of dual SIM? They can still call and text you. You can just respond via whatsapp or other methods. Besides, if you want to be contacted, you would be telling those people that you are overseas. So many messaging services out there that it's baffling you're so troubled with this.

This is MacRumors, so most people here are tech-savvy. However, there are many people not knowledgeable with things like this: elderly, disabled, learning difficulties, etc. There is certainly a concern that they will be disadvantaged by this, paying more than if they knew how to swap SIM cards or even that they should do this.

 

[CthuluLemon]

Ethnic cleansing? I find it amusing that you play the voice of reason and come up with such dramatic lies! Are you, perchance, an Anglophobe? You forget, for one thing, that what we today would call "the British" have been in Ireland one way or another for hundreds and hundreds of years and vice versa. And it was the native Irish, called the Scotii (Scotia denoted Ireland), who populated what we know think of as Scotland. Should be ask the Irish to stop occupying northern Britain? The UK signed the Good Friday Agreement, which more or less handed the fate of Northern Ireland over to the island of Ireland, with a provision for a future referendum on Irish unity, effective pardons for Irish terrorists and no equivalence for British soldiers who fought during the Troubles. The UK, unlike most other former colonial powers, has handed over its dominions with relative grace. The idea of ethnic cleansing is so utterly abhorrent an accusation it could only come from the naive, foolish and spiteful (and very likely that common Internet troll: the Anglophobe).

lol, are you actually trying to play the victim? Britain has a few more centuries of penance for the atrocities of the empire before anyone cares about your maudlin whining.

 

[ruka.snow]

Now I'm a detached Brit living with no rights, no vote, no say, no nothing in Europe and I will revel and celebrate gaining citizenship in an EU country once again, and take back the rights that gave me the opportunity to live where I wanted, with total freedom.

I hope you are soon settled. No one should be left in limbo like that.

 

[Ries]

The British decided very much not to join the EU vaccination program, and thank goodness they didn't! This enable the UK to get far ahead. As to whether, like Israel, there is a first-mover disadvantage, that may be likely, but no one can doubt the extraordinary pace of the British vaccine and the British roll-out.

They're behind several EU countries in vacation. They have more deaths and infected. There the only "EU" country not having recovered economicly from the brex*cough* "pandemic". What a win...

 

[beanbaguk]

I hope you are soon settled. No one should be left in limbo like that.

It pains me that as I have lived abroad for 16 years, I no longer have a right to vote in UK elections, yet everything that incompetent government of wasters does affects me as a British citizen abroad.

It's a total abandonment of citizens who choose to exercise their freedom to live where they choose in our world.

Even worse, many of those years were in a British overseas territory, but that counted for nothing.

It's a "law" that must be abolished. Millions of Brits live overseas with no say in their controlling government back home, yet every choice made by those morons affects every single one of us. And we can do nothing.

Thankfully, I have earnt the right to apply for my citizenship where I live in just under two years, and I have the right to apply in just 12 months. Believe me, I'll be doing it the moment I can, and I will be binning my sons British passport and replacing it with the nation he was born in and still remains in the EU.

As my father is Scottish, perhaps one day, I'll be able to use that to my advantage and regain my Scottish EU identity in years to come. Who knows?

 

[ashdelacroix]

You are not correct:

FactCheck: Brexit did not speed up UK vaccine authorisation

In fact, the UK regulator used EU law to authorise the jab.

www.channel4.com

Complete nonsense. If there had been no Brexit, we would have joined the EU's procurement program, which was astonishingly slow. "Using EU laws" is neither here nor there in the face of actual operational complexities. We didn't sign up for the programme, and we benefitted enormously.