Off on vacation and don’t worry about possible mobile phone costs. EU roaming makes it possible and allows smartphone use within the EU as in your own country. It is now clear: the roaming charges that were abolished in 2017 will continue to apply.
On June 15, 2017, roaming costs within the EU were abolished. Travelers can use their mobile phone tariff within the 27 member states as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway without additional costs as in their own country. This is convenient and puts an end to the annoying and often expensive booking of special options abroad. What many certainly didn’t know: the “Roam like at Home” regulation, or EU roaming for short, was actually supposed to expire in mid-2022. But now it has been extended.
EU roaming rule extended to 2032
Last year, the EU Commission spoke out in favor of extending the current EU roaming rules. In February 2021, members will have a corresponding Recast roaming regulation put on. The agreement was reached in December. The plan: EU citizens should benefit from the elimination of roaming charges for another ten years. Negotiators from the EU states and the European Parliament agreed to extend the rules beyond the end of June 2022. Consumers can therefore continue to use their cell phones to make calls, surf the Internet or write text messages while traveling at the same cost as at home.
The agreement also provides for some changes to the existing rules. Mobile phone users abroad should always be able to access the same quality of service whenever possible. “Intentional throttling is therefore a thing of the past,” said Austrian MEP and chief negotiator in Parliament Angelika Winzig. In addition, the aim is to significantly reduce the prices that network operators charge each other for roaming. Users can also contact the emergency number free of charge.
The Council of the EU states and the European Parliament made all these changes at the beginning of April 2022 now confirmed. The new regulations officially come into force on July 1 and replace the existing requirements.
Also read: How to avoid cost traps when making phone calls and surfing on vacation
Special case Great Britain
Since January 2021, Great Britain has not belonged to either the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA). The EU roaming regulations no longer have to be implemented there. The mobile phone providers in Austria, for example, again charge additional costs if citizens use their domestic tariffs in British networks. Conversely, citizens from Great Britain also incur high costs for using mobile phones in the EU.
After all, the German network operators have so far refrained from these additional costs. Neither Telekom, Vodafone, O2 nor any of the mobile phone providers operating in these networks charge surcharges when users use their tariffs to make calls or surf the Internet within Great Britain. That should not change for the time being, as TECHBOOK found out when asked.