Great news for travellers – O2 (ETR:O2D) has announced plans to scrap roaming fees in 47 countries this summer, starting June 15.
Customers of the mobile operator will be able to use their phones abroad without the worry of high costs added onto their bills.
O2’s pay monthly and business customers will be able to make and receive calls and texts as well as use their data in countries such as France, Spain, Iceland and Greece at no extra cost.
Customers will receive more information on May 15 but will not have to make any changes to receive the benefits.
The mobile operator O2 is following in the steps of EE, Three and Vodafone (LON:VOD), who have also scrapped roaming charges in Europe.
Whilst this decision would, of course, benefit some O2 customers, it did not go much beyond what the company would have to do under the new EU rules due in June.
This comes before the European Union is expected to abolish roaming charges for its member states in June. It has not yet become clear if UK operators will be able to reintroduce roaming fees when the UK has left the bloc in 2019.
A leaked document has stated that roaming laws will “will no longer apply with respect to the UK impacting business and other travellers to and from the UK.”
Kester Mann, a telecoms analyst at CCS Insight, has said that it may be difficult for operators to reintroduce roaming charges when Britain has divorced the EU.
“I think it would go down very, very badly with customers – it would be a very bold and perhaps foolhardy option,”
“It would be very difficult for them to do that just because the UK is such a competitive market and we’ve moved such a long way from roaming,” he said.