Roaming returns to Britain, but not to Europe

After Brexit, the is back roaming for those who go in Britain? The answer is no, at least for now. The divorce agreement between London and Brussels, in fact, does not touch the telephony chapter, leaving the question to the (good) will of the operators.

So far, no telephone company active in the European Union said it would reintroduce roaming for its customers traveling to the UK. As a result, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland continue to benefit from thecommunity agreement signed in 2017, according to which European citizens pay the tariffs subscribed at home for telephone calls and mobile internet even when they move to other EU countries.

If we narrow our gaze toItaly, telephone companies continue to treat Great Britain as the other 27 EU countries where roaming is not allowed.

However, it is said that this situation is not destined to last, because the word of the telephone operators is not valid forever.

At the beginning of the year, the companies active in Great Britain had promised that they did not want to reintroduce roaming following Brexit. But now some of them have changed their minds: it's about EE (a subsidiary of British Telecom), Three e O2. The three companies have announced tariff changes intended to impact the cost of telephone calls and connection via smartphone for British users traveling to the European Union.

As for Vodafone – the main telephone operator across the Channel – for the moment there have been no steps backwards compared to what has been affirmed in recent months, and therefore the abolition of roaming remains in force.

The question could be definitively resolved next year, given that by 30 June 2022 it is necessary renegotiate the agreement reached at European Union level in 2017. London therefore hopes that in that forum the agreement left out of the Brexit agreement can be achieved, preventing British citizens from returning to pay for roaming in EU countries.