Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab pledged Thursday that the government will try to impose a “limit” on the reintroduction of roaming charges for British mobile phone subscribers travelling in the EU following the UK’s exit from the union.
However, he acknowledged that he couldn’t provide customers with a “cast iron guarantee” that Brexit won’t see the return of costly roaming charges.
All roaming charges on mobile calls, texts, and data were eliminated for EU citizens travelling within the continent in June 2017, although limits remain on the use of data allowances. Britain’s looming exit from the union and the increasing likelihood of a no-deal Brexit have raised worries that British travellers will again be hit with hefty surcharges for using their phones abroad.
The pro-Remain Best for Britain campaign has said the reintroduction of roaming charges could cost business travellers in Europe up to £778 per month.
Raab said that mobile operators Three and Vodafone have both publicly committed to not re-impose roaming charges for British customers.
“But in any event we would legislate for a limit on roaming charges to make sure in a no-deal scenario we would protect British consumers,” he told the BBC.
He said he wanted to reassure consumers but admitted that the government may not be able to stop European mobile operators from passing charges onto customers.
British mobile networks EE and O2 said they had no plans to change their mobile roaming policies and would continue to work closely with the government to develop plans for post-Brexit service.
Raab’s statements come as the government has released its latest raft of contingency plans for a no-deal exit from the EU. In the “unlikely event” of a no-deal exit, customers should “check the roaming policies of your mobile operator before you go abroad,” the documents caution.
