Telefónica UK and Virgin will not charge their UK customers European roaming fees after Brexit

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Virgin Media O2, the UK operator owned by Telefónica and Liberty Global, has decided that You won’t charge your customers for using their phones in Europe, contrary to what their main rival had announced, that they would continue the charge for roam after leaving the country from the European Union (EU).

Since June 2017, EU nationals traveling to other EU member states can use your mobile rates as if you were in your home country, something that was later applied to Great Britain while it was still part of the Union.

However, after Brexit was completed, the agreement reached between the UK and the EU in December 2020 provided mobile phone operators the option to charge your customers again for using the services of roam in Europe.

In this context, the group created by Telefónica and Liberty announced this Monday that customers of its two mobile phone brands, O2 and Virgin Mobile, they will be able to continue using calls, data and text messages on their mobile phones while traveling to other European countries as if they were in the UK.

In a statement, Virgin Media O2 confirmed that with this decision, it stands out from the position held by its main rival, because is the only one of the four major telecommunications operators that will not re-charge its tariffs to use services roam on the Old Continent.

Boris Johnson Support

The decisions of the two companies have been celebrated even by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who has thanked Virgin Media and O2 on their Twitter account for their decision to start billing their customers no more roam in Europe.

Virgin Media O2 adds that the decision is in when British citizens look forward to traveling abroad, as reflected in an internal survey, which shows that 75% plan to visit another country next summer, or study ona United Kingdom Travel Agencies Association (ABTA) which places Spain as its favorite destination.

In addition, he added that an analysis of the daily rates charged by other operators showed that a family of four traveling abroad for two weeks could see an increase of 100 pounds or more your vacation bill if you use the phone every day.

Among other operators, Vodafone plans to refund roaming charges in Europe in January and EE in March, but both companies have communicated that they are delaying implementing this action. In Tiga’s case, it is expected to charge again for the service in May.

Matt Thompson

"Problem solver. Proud twitter specialist. Travel aficionado. Introvert. Coffee trailblazer. Professional zombie ninja. Extreme gamer."

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