EE to reintroduce EU roaming charges

jbrassy

Spotted on BBC News:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57595913

To quote from the article:
"Mobile operator EE will charge new customers extra to use their mobile phones in Europe from January.

Those joining or upgrading from 7 July 2021 will be charged £2 a day to use their allowances in 47 European destinations from January 2022."

Presumably this won't affect existing customers, but it's bad news if you're thinking about joining EE.

[Deleted User]

Good on them…. Anyway to find ways to make the business stronger and competitive in the market place. 

As long as ofcom ensure there is no colluding between the networks on roaming charges then go for it. 

jbrassy

Deleted_User said:

Good on them…. Anyway to find ways to make the business stronger and competitive in the market place. 

As long as ofcom ensure there is no colluding between the networks on roaming charges then go for it. 

That's a rather strange response. Firstly, you're presuming that the money they save from scrapping roaming charges will be used to improve their offering in other areas. This is by no means guaranteed as it may simply result in them cutting costs to improve their bottom line. If this occurs, customers will end up paying the same for their mobile services while receiving an inferior service and they'll be worse off. If anything this could make their business less competitive relative to their rivals who continue to offer free roaming in Europe. 

Second, on the Ofcom collusion point, the move by EE may see other mobile operators follow suit tacitly. Tacit collusion is very difficult to prove, as has been demonstrated by electricity and gas companies and their prices moving in tandem.

Anyway, it doesn't sound like you get out much if you're not bothered by the price hike. 

Jon_01

This was always going to happen once the European networks were free of the EU regs for UK roaming. They can now change whatever they like and past a point the home networks can't take the hit.

Pre EU roaming regs a few of the networks over there saw roamers as a cash cows. I can see all new contracts now excluding roaming.

[Deleted User]

jbrassy said:

Deleted_User said:

Good on them…. Anyway to find ways to make the business stronger and competitive in the market place. 

As long as ofcom ensure there is no colluding between the networks on roaming charges then go for it. 

That's a rather strange response. Firstly, you're presuming that the money they save from scrapping roaming charges will be used to improve their offering in other areas. This is by no means guaranteed as it may simply result in them cutting costs to improve their bottom line. If this occurs, customers will end up paying the same for their mobile services while receiving an inferior service and they'll be worse off. If anything this could make their business less competitive relative to their rivals who continue to offer free roaming in Europe. 

Second, on the Ofcom collusion point, the move by EE may see other mobile operators follow suit tacitly. Tacit collusion is very difficult to prove, as has been demonstrated by electricity and gas companies and their prices moving in tandem.

Anyway, it doesn't sound like you get out much if you're not bothered by the price hike. 

The fact UK voted to leave the EU means that we don’t automatically get the same benefits as before and I believe in companies doing what they want and customers deciding with their feet. But on the flip side I don’t mind regulation it’s just trying to find that balance which is hard.

Is this a good or bad thing who knows but I’ll default to these companies knowing more than me lol 

simax

In order for networks to continue to offer inclusive EU roaming for all customers, they’d undoubtedly have to increase domestic charges and/or line rental to compensate. Why should people who don’t go abroad suffer price rises to pay for matey down the road who goes to Benidorm 3 times a year?

As it stands, I don’t think the others will change their policy any time soon, they all have their own partner networks overseas that will lighten the load somewhat…. plus BT seems to be struggling financially at the moment so anything to squeeze pennies out of their loyal masses…

jmwt

As I've read the bleak news from EE, as I am currently outside contract, I thought about calling them today to sign a new 24 months contract (Before 7 July) to avoid the roaming charges for 2 years.

Shockingly they stated they could still change the terms and conditions and start charging me for EU roaming, even if I were to renew my contract with one that as of today clearly states "EU roaming is included".

I replied that if that were the case, they would have had to allow me to leave my contract before the end of the 24 months without having to pay any penalty; however, the customer service representative said that wasn't the case: 

He stated that even if I were to sign today for a contract that clearly said that EU roaming is included, they could still change my terms and conditions and start charging me without allowing me to exit the agreement before the end.

I think that the representative was wrong; as far as I remember, Martin Lewis stated that in this situations, the provider has to give you 30 days where you can leave without incurring any early termination charges.  

Can anyone advise on the matter?

Many thanks,

J

chistery

If you take an EE plan with smart benefits you'll be able to add Roam Abroad and continue roaming in the EU for free. Eventually all networks will make changes. Three will likely remain free but throttle data so badly you'll not be able to do anything useful.

jnm21

As we saw with the scandalous price rises, if folk accept what EE start, all the others will follow!

TBH £10 for 30 days isn't the worst I feared pre-Brexit.  That said there is an understandable hang up about starting to pay anything for something that was free, no matter how briefly!

redux

Deleted_User said:

jbrassy said:

Deleted_User said:

Good on them…. Anyway to find ways to make the business stronger and competitive in the market place. 

As long as ofcom ensure there is no colluding between the networks on roaming charges then go for it. 

That's a rather strange response. Firstly, you're presuming that the money they save from scrapping roaming charges will be used to improve their offering in other areas. This is by no means guaranteed as it may simply result in them cutting costs to improve their bottom line. If this occurs, customers will end up paying the same for their mobile services while receiving an inferior service and they'll be worse off. If anything this could make their business less competitive relative to their rivals who continue to offer free roaming in Europe. 

Second, on the Ofcom collusion point, the move by EE may see other mobile operators follow suit tacitly. Tacit collusion is very difficult to prove, as has been demonstrated by electricity and gas companies and their prices moving in tandem.

Anyway, it doesn't sound like you get out much if you're not bothered by the price hike. 

The fact UK voted to leave the EU means that we don’t automatically get the same benefits as before and I believe in companies doing what they want and customers deciding with their feet. But on the flip side I don’t mind regulation it’s just trying to find that balance which is hard.

Is this a good or bad thing who knows but I’ll default to these companies knowing more than me lwhate

When I joined Orange in 1999, roaming minutes cost about the same as excess minutes here.

In 2003, Orange increased roaming prices in some countries from 51 to 110 or 130 pence a minute. They did this without telling perhaps about a third of customers. When I complained, I was told that people with billing dates before a certain date were told on one month's statement, and people with a billing date after another date were told on a different month's statement. I pointed out there was a gap of 9 or 10 days, and I hadn't been told at all.

With that, Orange's rates went broadly in line with other networks, after being cheaper for years. 

OK, it's a different company now, but the mentality of some of the staff may remain.

Incoming roaming calls across Europe had typical profit margins of over 90%, i.e. charging a quid for something that cost only a few pence wholesale, and was steadily reducing

It's no wonder the EU started taking action against the mobile companies behaving as if the Single Market didn't apply to them.

It's a shame our government first fought against the roaming regulations, more interested in putting the companies' viewpoint rather than consumers, and has now abdicated any responsibility for whatever uncompetitive practices may happen next.

We might be back to studying which decent foreign SIMs to use ...

pbartlett

If your EE contract says 'roaming is included' then they cannot change that unilaterally without allowing you to leave.

However, make sure the terms don't say something like 'free roaming included but we can remove it at any time' or that there isn't something buried on page 964 that says this!