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Vodafone to Bring Back EU Roaming Charges for UK Customers Abroad

Not even free roaming could keep me with Three, their service isn’t great in my area anymore.

My new contract with EE allows me to switch some benefits and one of them being free roaming, so for the other 10-11 months of the year I can have a different benefit.

Plus roaming in the US is a waste of time, you’re stuck on a congested 3G network where maps barely works full stop. Now that I’ve an esim now, so next time I’ll look at a pay and go sim I think.
 
simps100 said:
I see 2 sides to be fair - it was never really "free" roaming, everyone just paid towards the costs of roaming if you actually used it or not.

If those who have no need for EU roaming can genuinely get a better price than they are paying now on one of these new tariff's then I dont see this as so bad - although I suspect most company's who re-introduce these will just pocket the extra!
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ah so prices went down now? haha.
 
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SmugMaverick said:
They protected us from roaming charges across Europe, we were still ripped off in the uk.
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No they didn’t.
All that happened was that the cost of roaming incurred by networks was spread across the entire customer base. So those that never travelled to Europe subsidised those who frequently travelled to Europe.
 
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I currently use VOXI which is a sub brand of Vodafone. I pay £10 ($14) a month for 15GB data, unlimited social and unlimited minutes + texts. This also includes free EU roaming so it will be interesting to see if they extend this charge to VOXI or just for the more “premium” Vodafone stuff.
As a Vodafone shareholder I find this very disappointing as it is a quick way to drain any customer loyalty. An all round poor move from Vodafone.
 
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Sean J said:
No they didn’t.
All that happened was that the cost of roaming incurred by networks was spread across the entire customer base. So those that never travelled to Europe subsidised those who frequently travelled to Europe.
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So UK phone contracts should go down now, right?
 
Mac4Mat said:
No that's a company taking advantage of a situation. Answer go with someone else.
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All of the bad things (much worse than this) that are happening long term post Brexit will be “companies taking advantage of the situation”. Reduced food standards, reduced worker conditions and protections, increased costs to consumers, jobs leaving the UK, increased privatisation of health care, etc.

Ironically, as another commentator pointed out, in general, people who voted against Brexit will be better able to afford these impacts than those who voted for it.
 
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catean said:
Can you document this statement ? Norway, Iceland and Swiss, they are all paying the same amount to the EU budget but they don't have any power in the EU parliament, as they are not members.
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Norway, Iceland & Schweiz don’t pay into EU budget. They provide direct funds to infrastructure projects rather than GDP-based contributions to overall budget. They have no power in EU Parliament, but who does? It is the only parliament in the world without the power to initiate or repeal legislation. It is a potemkin parliament.
 
Sakurambo-kun said:
The most popular destinations for UK tourists are:

1 - Spain (EU)
2 - France (EU)
3 - Italy (EU)
4 - USA
5 - Ireland (EU)
6 - Netherlands (EU)
7 - Greece (EU)
8 - Germany (EU)
9 - Portugal (EU)
10 - Poland (EU)

So yeah, leaving the EU was an act of such stupidity it's simply impossible to comprehend on any rational level. Truly the worst foreign policy mistake in British history. The sad thing is that the return of roaming charges is just a side story. The real issue is the near total collapse in exports to the EU due to crippling amounts of red tape, additional charges, and import tariffs.

If you were to try and come up with a way to sabotage a country's prosperity for decades to come in one fell swoop, Brexit would be it.
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I can only speak from my experience but exports in my industry have increased by 12% since 2019. The main issues now are the Brexit paperwork like commercial invoices etc, but the biggest thing slowing down exports at the moment is getting raw material into the country to fulfil demand. Demand hasn’t dropped for UK sourced products, yet, but the problem with supply is affecting much of Europe and the world, not just the UK.

It’s difficult to gauge at this point as exports are suffering for a variety of reasons currently.
 
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Looking at the current Vodafone tariff offer, you need to be on an “Unlimited 4Extra” plan to get roaming in 83 countries including Europe, the US and Oz ie VF’s zones B+C. That package is £44 with Entertainment (roughly a £10 value) so net £34. If you want free roaming in Europe, you’ll *have* to have a plan with 4Extra

www.vodafone.co.uk

Global Roaming | Vodafone UK

Use your data, minutes and texts abroad at no extra cost, with more roaming destinations than any other UK network on our Unlimited Max plan.
www.vodafone.co.uk

I’m currently paying £33 for Unlimited Max with Entertainment (so net £23) which includes roaming in 81 countries so this is a significant price hike even for the top end packages.

Fortunately my contract is until June 2023.
 
It’s worth noting that if you have upgraded before the 21/08/2021, these roaming charges will not be effective as long as you stay on your current plan.

72d971ec03ea9e668d2c5e90718946b2.png


This will only affect customers after that date. I did wonder how they could introduce such steep charges to existing customers as this would in effect be a breach of contract on their part. You would be legally entitled to terminate your contract on this basis, so it’s understandable there is some notice for any future customers.
 
What ive not seen mentioned on here is that all the networks in the world charge each other for roaming.

I go to the USA and use my O2 phone on T Mobile's US network
The T-Mobile US network then charges my home network, O2, for me using it.
That is why roaming charges exist.

It's not a quick buck to sponge from customers for no reason.
 
Sakurambo-kun said:
Before that idiotic referendum I recall of those right wing wingnuts claiming that of course free roaming would remain after we left the world's biggest free trade zone and burnt every bridge imaginable. That, like everything else they said was a steaming pile of manure.

Truly the most dishonest, brainless, and truly sadistic bunch of psychopaths in political history. May they burn in hell.
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Do you have a quote for any of that?

There was a democratic vote - one side won, another side lost. Get over it!
 
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Duncan-UK said:
Do you have a quote for any of that?

There was a democratic vote - one side won, another side lost. Get over it!
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The result of a campaign built on lies and false promises. You know this too, which is why you have to spout such idiotic drivel. Enjoy your insane roaming charges.
 
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ian87w said:
I don't see a problem. Simply get a local SIM in an EU country that provide free roaming on the EU, no?

I mean anybody else has to roam whenever they visit a different country. Getting a local SIM is not a new concept. Just use a dual SIM phone.
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It must be said, however, that £15 fee to use the plan in the EU is not outrageous.
I am planning a trip to England and Scotland next year, if necessary I will buy a local sim card, as I did before the Eu free roaming. That's why the sim slot in my IPhone is empty, I've loaded an esim onto the IPhone for home use.
 
How is this any different from Switzerland? Vodafone Czech Republic charges rates in Switzerland where as the rest of the EU is free.
 
Honestly that just makes me livid, a limit of 25gb as well? That will last about 3 days….

Back to swapping sims in different countries it is then :/
 
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