O2 to reintroduce EU roaming charges.. (1 Viewer)

[gerry mcg]

Roaming charges to return for travellers to EU in Brexit blow, leading operator announces

Embarrassment as move announced on referendum anniversary – after trade deal created risk of fees

www.independent.co.uk

 

[ChrisL]

That's a bit of a misleading headline, they are bringing in charges if you go over 25 GB's per month whilst roaming, pretty much the same as most other companies really.

 

[gerry mcg]

Passing no comment. Reporting the facts, so customers can decide if it is an issue for them and take appropriate action as they feel necessary

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[ChrisL]

Passing no comment. Reporting the facts, so customers can decide if it is an issue for them and take appropriate action as they feel necessary

It wasn't a criticism of your post, it was a criticism of the Independent's headline, thank you for posting it's always good to know what's happening.

 

[jongood]

Passing no comment. Reporting the facts, so customers can decide if it is an issue for them and take appropriate action as they feel necessary

IMO your title is at best misleading, perhaps you should have read it before you attached a description to it.

 

[Stealaway]

Only above 25 good a month. That's ok then, I only use 8 gb a month

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[Gromett]

Even at £3.50 a GB it is not an extortionate rate for mobile use.

Also as others have said, only for data and only if you go over the 25GB limit.

Seems very fair to me and not going back to the bad old days.

I seem to recall paying 5p/MB equivalent to >£50GB and I had a cap of I think 100Mb a month.

I will be interested to see what Three do over the next year or two.

 

[mikebeaches]

I think the Independent has something of a 'remain' focus.

And I agree, what O2 has announced sounds perfectly reasonable.

 

[Googlebot]

Even as a lefty remoaner, I think it’s reasonable.

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[RM_Marine]

Even at £3.50 a GB it is not an extortionate rate for mobile use.

Also as others have said, only for data and only if you go over the 25GB limit.

Seems very fair to me and not going back to the bad old days.

I seem to recall paying 5p/MB equivalent to >£50GB and I had a cap of I think 100Mb a month.

I will be interested to see what Three do over the next year or two.

Some people on this site won't pay £5 - £10 a night let alone pay £3.50 so they can watch TV all month

 

[AJM2]

So what’s the justification from o2? If simple profiteering it is unacceptable.

 

[grumps147]

Being a Three user who renewed my contracts yesterday for an extra £5 per month I went from 20Gb data a month on my mifi sim contract to unlimited data. Our use has changed considerably over lockdown and where we hardly ever watched video we now watch a lot. That’s not just additional watching, we probably watch far less terrestrial tv as we think the quality has diminished.
I looked in particular at roaming and Three remain the same with a fair usage of 20Gb a month which it has been for quite a while.
So the O2 limit seems acceptable to me.
Acceptable? Customers changing plans and providers will tell.

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[Spawn_e_git]

Can you not have more than 1 PAYG SIMs and swap them?
Appreciate this would only be good for MIFI or people using older phone just for tethering.

 

[69473]

I suspect this will be the start of all mobile phone companies trying to gain a commercial advantage and increase profits for shareholders.
25 GB classed as high user at present, however technology moves so quickly and our reliance on mobile data is constantly changing.
Many younger users, who stream music, films, the YouTube generation already have high data usage.
Other companies will follow and i suspect overtime the limit will reduce.
Remember the time when we paid up to 20% more for our vehicles in the Uk compare to Europe, EU legislation was introduced and prices harmonised. I suspect this protection will also be eroded in the coming years.

 

[busby]

Still successfully using Vodaphone in Spain. Used 102 gb up to now of my 120 allowed. It renews tomorrow.Got another phone though with plenty on. BUSBY.

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[Richard n Ann]

I suspect this will be the start of all mobile phone companies trying to gain a commercial advantage and increase profits for shareholders.
25 GB classed as high user at present, however technology moves so quickly and our reliance on mobile data is constantly changing.
Many younger users, who stream music, films, the YouTube generation already have high data usage.
Other companies will follow and i suspect overtime the limit will reduce.
Remember the time when we paid up to 20% more for our vehicles in the Uk compare to Europe, EU legislation was introduced and prices harmonised. I suspect this protection will also be eroded in the coming years.

Your not considering the effect of competition. Customers will move to any company that offers them more value for money. So if the mobile companies costs don't go up they would be stupid to put up prices or reduce data etc. Commercial suicide

 

[AJM2]

Your not considering the effect of competition. Customers will move to any company that offers them more value for money. So if the mobile companies costs don't go up they would be stupid to put up prices or reduce data etc. Commercial suicide

I am a long term o2 customer with a 100gb per month allowance. This has annoyed me as a matter of principle.

 

[SpeedyDux]

Your not considering the effect of competition. Customers will move to any company that offers them more value for money. So if the mobile companies costs don't go up they would be stupid to put up prices or reduce data etc. Commercial suicide

There are only 4 mobile networks in the UK so it's far from a free market. You probably need a minimum of 6 UK networks to get real competition.

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[Richard n Ann]

There are only 4 mobile networks in the UK so it's far from a free market. You probably need a minimum of 6 UK networks to get real competition.

Don't forget all the virtual networks, plusnet is competing against EE and EE own them

 

[SpeedyDux]

Don't forget all the virtual networks, plusnet is competing against EE and EE own them

I expected to see that point raised. This piggy-backing is widespread. I am considering moving from O2 to Tesco Mobile which is on the O2 network yet offers cheaper data. O2 I think is now owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 JV between Telefonica and Liberty Global (I may be behind the times) which is also network sharing with Vodafone. That degree of complexity looks to me like a perfect way to establish oligopoly in place of real competition. The presence of a regulator albeit a somewhat clawless pussycat / toothless tiger (other cliches are available) tends to support my view of market failure in the mobile network market. We consumers are still being rinsed.

 

[2657]

Still successfully using Vodaphone in Spain. Used 102 gb up to now of my 120 allowed. It renews tomorrow.Got another phone though with plenty on. BUSBY.

How long have you been using it out of the UK?

"Where a customer’s usage abroad is greater than at home over a four month period, we will message them to give them 14 days to clarify their usage, after which a regulated surcharge of 3.3p per minute for voice calls, 1p per SMS and £3.13 per GB of data will be applied to further usage. The new charges will come into effect on 18 January, 2021. Customers will be able to continue to receive calls and texts at no extra cost."

I reactivated a sim that I had not used in the UK at all in January, I got the message last month and cancelled the contract, it was due to end in July anyway.

I have now got a Superdrug unlimited sim on 30 day renewals that supposedly has no roaming limits but we shall see.

I also have a local NOS unlimited 15 days for €15 than I can reactivate but I need to use a VPN to stream TV.

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[busby]

How long have you been using it out of the UK?

"Where a customer’s usage abroad is greater than at home over a four month period, we will message them to give them 14 days to clarify their usage, after which a regulated surcharge of 3.3p per minute for voice calls, 1p per SMS and £3.13 per GB of data will be applied to further usage. The new charges will come into effect on 18 January, 2021. Customers will be able to continue to receive calls and texts at no extra cost."

I reactivated a sim that I had not used in the UK at all in January, I got the message last month and cancelled the contract, it was due to end in July anyway.

I have now got a Superdrug unlimited sim on 30 day renewals that supposedly has no roaming limits but we shall see.

I also have a local NOS unlimited 15 days for €15 than I can reactivate but I need to use a VPN to stream TV.

I use it all the time at home as it's the only internet we have so should not be a problem.Been away just over three and a half weeks.BUSBY.

 

[69473]

Competition, don't make me laugh.
Just like Fuel companies and energy suppliers, they will all follow each other to maximise profits, nieve to think otherwise.
This will only be controlled by legislation, (legislation you use to have) can't see any Conservative government being in favour of cutting shareholder profits at the detriment of the free market.

 

[jongood]

Competition, don't make me laugh.
Just like Fuel companies and energy suppliers, they will all follow each other to maximise profits, nieve to think otherwise.
This will only be controlled by legislation, (legislation you use to have) can't see any Conservative government being in favour of cutting shareholder profits at the detriment of the free market.

The spending power in the mobile phone market is dominated by the young, ey will not stay with a network that reintroduced roaming charges. 3 knew this before EU got involved hence their strategy.

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[orridge]

EE just announced a £2 charge per day for contracts from July onwards for next year in 47 European Countries...

 

[Gromett]

Now EE has joined in, but this time proper roaming charge of £2 per day irrespective of usage. Now that is bad.

EE to reintroduce Europe roaming charges in January

The mobile operator EE is to charge new UK customers to use their phones in Europe.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Gromett]

Oh and Three will be reducing its fair use limit from 20GB a month to 12GB.

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[69473]

Without the protection of the EU, the little people, you and me are just a revenue stream that can and will be exploited.
Foolish to think commercial organisations would not do so.
Of course as the British Government now has control of our Boarders, Laws and Sovereignty it to could enact similar legislation.

 

[orridge]

Being a Three user who renewed my contracts yesterday for an extra £5 per month I went from 20Gb data a month on my mifi sim contract to unlimited data. Our use has changed considerably over lockdown and where we hardly ever watched video we now watch a lot. That’s not just additional watching, we probably watch far less terrestrial tv as we think the quality has diminished.
I looked in particular at roaming and Three remain the same with a fair usage of 20Gb a month which it has been for quite a while.
So the O2 limit seems acceptable to me.
Acceptable? Customers changing plans and providers will tell.

Three just announced dropping 20gb to 12gb from July.

Any bets on what time Vodafone will announce their changes?

 

[Trevor Wbm]

Three just announced dropping 20gb to 12gb from July.

Any bets on what time Vodafone will announce their changes?

Vodafone are still free up to 25Gb a month.

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