UK mobile companies should be clear on overseas roaming charges, says watchdog

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Telecoms companies should be forced to inform UK customers travelling abroad of roaming charges, the sector’s watchdog has said, warning that “inconsistent and unclear” information risked unfairly inflating bills.

Since Brexit, most UK mobile phone users have been charged roaming fees when making calls, sending texts and using the internet overseas, including the EU. The bloc banned the practice in 2017.

Ofcom said on Thursday that consumers should be sent alerts by their provider when they start roaming, explaining how much it will cost and any action they can take to limit charges.

It cited in-house research showing that one-fifth of holidaymakers were unaware they could be charged extra when using their mobile abroad.

“Without clear information from their provider, [customers] could find themselves facing an unexpected bill for calling home or going online,” said Cristina Luna-Esteban, Ofcom’s director of telecoms consumer protection.

“These alerts would mean whichever mobile provider you’re with, you won’t be left in the dark about roaming charges and action you can take to manage your spending,” she added.

The regulator’s proposal — which is out to consultation until September and will be decided on early next year — comes as it seeks to boost protections for consumers contending with rising living costs.

The watchdog last week said it had found a low level of understanding among customers of inflation-linked in-contract price rises, and accused operators of failing to give enough visibility to cheaper broadband and phone package options aimed at helping their most vulnerable customers.

According to Uswitch, consumers were hit by £539mn in unexpected roaming charges over the past year.

Ernest Doku, mobile expert at the price comparison company, said: “Roaming costs can now be incredibly expensive, and consumers have been left exposed at a time when a large unexpected bill could have severe consequences.”

While he backed Ofcom’s proposal, he said it was “vital” for implementation to happen quickly “and in time for next year’s summer holidays [as] hundreds of millions of pounds are at stake”.

Consumer group Which? also welcomed the regulator’s announcement, saying the UK “should take the opportunity to lower the cost of roaming for consumers travelling around the world” as it continued to strike post-Brexit trade deals.

In its research, Ofcom found that 18 per cent of people did not research roaming charges before travelling. Some even suffered from so-called inadvertent roaming, when a device connects to a network in a different country even though the user is not physically in that country.

The watchdog said this was often a problem for people in Northern Ireland, where 22 per cent of users reported roaming on to networks in Ireland last year.

O2 said it always “strive[s] to be clear and transparent” about roaming charges and that it was the only major mobile operator not to have reintroduced roaming fees in Europe. It added that when customers go abroad “they receive a text message explaining any extra costs that may apply”.

Vodafone said its customers could expect to receive notifications about roaming charges and fair-use policy when they travel abroad. “We’re pleased that changes put forward by Ofcom today are in step with how we already communicate with our customers,” it added.

EE and Three, the other mobile network operators in the UK, were also contacted for comment.