Status: 07/07/2021 9:06 a.m.
Great Britain has been out of the EU for good since January. This has not changed anything for German mobile phone users. You don’t currently have to pay any roaming charges in the British Isles. Will it stay that way?
Since June 15, 2017, mobile phone users in the countries of the European Union no longer incur any additional costs compared to their home country. Telephone calls, sending SMS and surfing the Internet are billed like at home. This also applied to talks in Great Britain until the end of June, although the country no longer belongs to the EU since the beginning of the year. Will that be over soon?
The British provider EE (British Telecom) has been charging roaming charges for calls, SMS and data usage in the EU since the beginning of the month. For the time being, nothing will change for the customers of the four major German network operators, Telekom, Telefónica, Vodafone and 1 & 1. They also allow free roaming in the island nation.
Vodafone and Telekom give the all-clear
There are so far no indications that Great Britain will leave the EU roaming regulation, according to Vodafone. The company assures that nothing will change for German customers for the time being, so that they will continue to incur no additional costs when making calls and surfing in Great Britain.
Deutsche Telekom also wants to adhere to the roaming regulation. “With us, Great Britain remains in the EU tariffs, just as Switzerland is already included,” the Bonn-based company announces. So everything stays the same. Telekom points out that in addition to Great Britain and Switzerland, other non-EU countries are also participating in the roaming regulation: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Great Britain on the same level as Switzerland
Customers of the network operator Telefonica / O2 do not have to fear any additional charges if they use their mobile phone in Great Britain – at least until the end of the year. “Nothing will change for O2 customers: the EU roaming conditions will apply as usual,” said the company. However, O2 has classified Great Britain in the same country zone as Switzerland, Andorra and Gibraltar. There are usually higher fees. Until the end of the year, however, the conditions for O2 customers traveling to Great Britain will remain unchanged. It is not yet possible to say whether it will be more expensive from next year, as there is still no follow-up agreement with Great Britain regarding the roaming regulation.
The provider 1 & 1 expresses itself similarly. “For the customers of 1 & 1, the EU roaming rules will apply in Great Britain even after Brexit until further notice,” the company said. This means that there are no additional fees. If you want to be sure that the statements of the mobile phone providers are actually correct, it is best to reread your SMS notification after logging into the UK mobile network when traveling to Great Britain.