Mobile Roaming is (Mostly) Free Across the EU

[MULTIZ321]

Mobile Roaming is (Mostly) Free Across the EU
By Jon Fingas/ Latest in Gear/ Engadget/ engadget.com

"You won't usually pay extra to use your phone across 28 countries.

It's been a long time in coming and had plenty of trials and tribulations, but it's finally here: mobile roaming is now free in the EU. As long as you have service in a member state and live there for at least 8 months each year, you can use your phone's voice, messaging and data in other EU countries at the same rate you'd pay as if you were at home. Well, mostly. There are a number of exceptions to the rule that could leave you paying more, although the likelihood of coming home to a gigantic bill is relatively small.

Carriers can still impose a fair use limit on data while you're traveling (if you have an unlimited or very inexpensive plan), but they're capped at charging you no more than €7.70 per gigabyte plus tax. That ceiling should gradually drop to €2.50 by 2022. Also, a "very small number" of EU carriers are allowed to charge a small roaming fee to make up for lower-than-usual domestic rates, but they should be lower than they were before. And of course, traveling abroad for more than 4 months can incur extra fees.

A handful of countries in the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) should get free roaming in the near future...."

LDProd via Getty Images


Richard

 

[isisdave]

Note that this applies to a phone or SIM you buy there, not the one you bring from the US. Also, there is a nominal residency requirement, although I don't know how they would enforce that. In most countries they require ID like your passport when you get even a prepaid phone, to prevent use for criminal or terrorist purpose.

 

[Tamino]

There is not a residency requirement per se, but you must present identification and supply an address, it could be your hotel´s address, when purchasing a pre-paid SIM.

To obtain regularly billed mobile phone service, such as monthly service, one must have a local address and a local bank account. All of the service providers, to my knowledge, require payments to be setup by automatic withdrawal through one´s local bank account.

Many, not all, of the EU service providers had already adopted various plans to allow their users to travel within the EU without incurring roaming charges. These plans typically allowed for a defined number of days per year that one could travel within the EU yet outside of his resident country and avoid roaming charges.

As isisdave has stated, the elimination of roaming charges is not extended to those using non-EU service providers.