Roaming charges to end across the European Union, but callers are warned about a huge catch

People have been warned to check for unexpected costs

Andrew Griffin
Monday 12 June 2017 17:43 BST
Comments
(LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Roaming charges are finally being killed off, after the EU forced phone companies to stop hitting people with massive, shock bills.

But customers have been warned that they might still have to pay more than they expect and should continue to be vigilant.

The roaming charges will come to an end after 15 June. That will mean that people in the UK can take their normal contract – with all its free calls, texts and data – anywhere in the EU, for no extra cost.

Except there are still extra charges for some calls into Europe. And those charges might not immediately be clear.

The legislation only bans roaming charges specifically. That means that users will still have to pay the normal cost if they phone the country they're in – calling an Italian number on a UK phone is charged the same as doing so from within Britain, for instance.

That might mean that people could think they're not having to pay extra for ringing their hotel, for instance. But in fact they'll be racking up international charges that could end up cost more than £1 per minute.

The decision is the result of the EU's "Roam At Home" legislation which aims to make coverage broadly the same across Europe. As such, it's not clear whether people in the UK will continue to benefit from it after Brexit.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in