Page 75 - SAMENA Trends - June-August 2021

WHOLESALE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

WHOLESALE NEWS

EE Brings EU Roaming Charges Back

UK mobile operator EE announced plans month. Kester Mann, director consumer the bad old days”, even though the move
to charge customers more for using their and connectivity at CCS Insight said the would not be well received by customers.
plans in Europe from January 2022, making reintroduction of roaming charges reflect- “EE has handed on a plate a clear mar-
it the first operator to reintroduce roaming ed a failure “to stem the long-term decline keting opportunity to rivals. It would have
fees following the country’s trade deal in average consumer spend amid heavy had to carefully calculate that the upside
with the European Union (EU). BT-owned investment in networks”. However, he add- outweighs any potential reputational dam-
EE said those joining or upgrading with the ed a £2 per day charge was a “far cry from age,” he added.
operator from 7 July 2021 would be on the
hook for a £2 extra charge to use their tar-
iff allowances in 47 EU destinations from
January 2022. In 2017, legislation was in-
troduced across the bloc putting an end
to operators charging customers extra to
use their tariff plans in EU countries. Those
rules notably no longer apply to EE, Voda-
fone UK, 3 UK and O2, following Brexit.
However, following the signing of a trade
deal between the UK and EU in January, all
four operators stated they had no plans to
reintroduce roaming fees. EE explained its
change of course would “support invest-
ment into our UK based customer service
and leading UK network”. Its announce-
ment comes after it was rumored O2 was
going to be the first to pull the trigger on
EU roaming charges. However, it only in-
troduced a fair use data cap of 25GB a

Vodafone UK Follows EE By Bringing Roaming Fees Back

Vodafone UK became the latest operator policy of 25GB of roaming data per month in its networks, pointing to openRAN, its
in the country to reintroduce roaming fees will also apply. Existing customers will shared rural initiative, 5G standalone fiber
for users travelling in Europe, following ri- not be affected while they remain on their broadband and its converged offerings.
val EE, with new and upgrading customers current price plan, added Essam. Roaming Tech, media and telco analyst at PP Fore-
on the hook for extra charges from 2022. will also remain inclusive in the Republic sight Paolo Pescatore believes the “harsh
In a blog, Vodafone UK CEO Ahmed Es- of Ireland for all customers. Vodafone be- realities of Brexit are becoming more evi-
sam explained it was adopting a new ap- comes the second UK operator after EE to dent” and it was the “gift that keeps on tak-
proach to roaming across its Europe Zone, backtrack on a pledge made in January not ing”. “Wholesale roaming rates will change
with subscribers facing at least a £1 daily to reintroduce roaming fees in Europe fol- given the UK’s exit and this in turn will in-
charge. Terms and conditions on roaming lowing the country’s exit from the Europe- evitably drive higher prices without EU pro-
will change from 11 August, although the an Union. EE stated in June it would charge tection. It’s a pretty easy decision for UK
charges will not be applied until 6 January new or upgrading customers £2 to use telcos,” he added. O2 UK and 3 UK have yet
2022. Affected customers have the option their tariff allowances in 47 EU destina- to reintroduce roaming fees, beyond data
of paying £2 a day to use their tariffs in tions, also from January 2022. Essam said fair use limits.
Europe, or £1 per day if bought as part of Vodafone changed “the way we offering
weekly or fortnightly bundles. Its fair use roaming” to enable it to continue to invest

75 JUN-AUG 2021