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New EU roaming terms & conditions 2021 explained?

Rye1
4: Newbie

I am currently with Vodafone - both mobile (20GB) and home fibre broadband. I travel a lot for both work and leisure, and originally signed up with VF as they seemed like a serious provider of telecoms, and at the time offered a very good all 'round service which suited my needs. I'd previously been with Three but left them as their roaming sounded good, but the reality was more of a 'bare bones' roaming option.

 

Can anyone please clarify the new 'fair use' small print and the 62 day UK/EU restrictions?  The way I see it is that in order to have access to my 20GB data while abroad, I now have to start really eating up my data allowance while in the UK in order to 'boost' my quota for when I'm in Europe? I rarely go anywhere near my allowance, but this seems both unfair and clumsy, and also a potential drain on UK data. Traveling is seldom predictable (especially when one is working on the road) and this new 'policy' does seem to feel like a real 'downgrade' from what I went to Vodafone for.

 

So, in order to 'protect' my 20GB data allowance if I'm away for 63 days in four months, I first have to max out my UK data as much as possible to have any hope of preserving much of my roaming 'allowance'? And how is the 'start date' counted, and on what day does one have to have 'used' one's data in the UK from? And, how is it counted if one leaves the UK for say 27 days, is back home for 10 days, and is then away again for 37 days (a total of 63 days 'over' a 4 month period)? And, what if one is home in the UK for two, three or four months on the trot?  I'm genuinely a little confused & bewildered (and quite frankly, disappointed).

 

It is naturally very tempting to look elsewhere, especially as EE are continuing with a fixed monthly 40GB roaming 'cap' (plenty and generous) - with none of this jumping through hoops with amount of data used in the UK/EU. (Their plans are also looking more than competitive..).

 

I'm sure I'm not the only one here to be affected by this?

 

Many thanks in advance for any clarification or words of reassurance..

 

 

 

29 REPLIES 29

Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway are part of European Economic Area. They are part of the customs union and they apply the 4 E.U. principle of free movement of capital, people, goods and services. They pay their share to the E.U. budget but they don’t have a seat at the decisions table as a E.U. member has.

 

Unfortuantely, because the EU operators are not forced trough regulations to apply special tarrifs, they can request whatever tarrif they seems suit from UK operators. When the huge tarrifs will come back, the will be applied by ALL UK operators.

Thanks @stonefences

 

I still don't 100% understand the 62 day period in 4 months. Let's take 1st Jan, Feb, March to 30th April  as an example (4 calendar months).

 

1) A customer is in the EU roamaing for the entire April and March plus 3 days of Feb (63 days total) and uses 20GB per month (total of 40GB ish). In order not to be charged extra for this, that customer needs to consume 41GB or more during Jan & Feb combined or 21GB per each month? And does this infer that in order to 'prove' your condsupmtion is less while roaming, this needs to be done in advance of traveling? And can that customer use all 40GB roaming in say the April and none in March?

 

2) A customer travels more frequently for shorter periods, say 3 weeks in the EU and then 5 weeks back in the UK? How is their data 'used while in the UK' metered in order 'calculate' the coefficient of 'allowed dfata in the EU?

 

I can only see this going one way and customers needlessly ramping up UK usage simply to preserve their access to data whilst roaming.

 

I am finding it increasingly difficult to consider signing up for a 24 month contract renewal with all the hassle that may be involved. What's wrong with a simple and fair 'cap'? Perhaps a moderator can offer some insight into VF's thinking process..

 

... I was hoping maybe someone from VF Staff might help with my last post, especially regards how 'use' is metered to determine allowable roaming usage..

 

😉

Mark
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hey @Rye1, apologies for our delay in responding, we've been extremely busy here recently.  Le'ts see if we can clear up your confusion over our updated roaming fair usage policy. From 18 January 2021, if you use your phone abroad in any of your inclusive roaming destinations for 62 or more days in a four month period and your usage in those destinations is more than your usage in the UK, we’ll send you an email or text to let you know this has happened. If, after a further 14 days of us sending you this message your roaming usage continues, you may be charged additional charges to use your phone in your inclusive roaming destinations. 

- Data: £3.13 for each 1GB. Just to note, these rates are set under the European Union roaming regulations.

- Calls: 3.3p a minute

- Texts: 1p each

Hope this helps, but if you've got any further questions, don't hesitate to get in touch and we'll be happy to help 😊

Thanks @Mark.. I appreciate you're all very busy 😉

 

I do get what you've restated, but what I'm trying to get to the bottom of is how the 'more than in the UK'  bit is this 'calculated'? Is it a direct sum total of your use in the UK before you leave? An average over the whole 62 day period? (eg if you hop back to the UK for a few days during the 62 days). When does the meter start running? Is it therefore a different GB use 'prior' to each trip? Is it calculated within yout 'billing cycle' or the date you leave UK reception?

 

Please forgive me for being pedandic, but I do feel this is a touch vague, and when signing up for a further 24 months, I do want to be quite clear what's involved. It was all so much more strahtforward before 😕

catean
10: Established
10: Established

Just to note, these rates are set under the European Union roaming regulations.

 

This is the important text in the message from Vodafone. They are saying the tariffs are still regulated until the operators from E.U. will start charging the U.K. operators as they do all other operators from countries outside E.U. So, expect a return of tariffs that were normal before the E.U. introduce roam-like-home.

 

They started with the PAYG One tariff, instead of 500MB/day at 1 pound, they reduced it to 50MB.

Thanks @catean..

 

A case for 'locking in' a tarif for 24 months now, or will VF be able to make changes to charges midway? 

 

Cats and mice...

 

 

catean
10: Established
10: Established

I think you will have the right to cancel you current subscription even if you signed for 24 months, but they have good lawyers, so you are not guaranteed they wouldn't find a way to change the roaming conditions without giving you the option to cancel.

 

I am only saying this, because I can see operators from E.U. starting to charge huge amounts for roaming into the U.K., and I am sure this will trigger changes into the tariffs of the U.K. operators in the next few months too. They are not in a hurry because Covid kept the roaming traffic low, but by summer I expect Vodafone to "unveil" new tariffs too.

.... @catean

 

Fortunately I'm out of contract for now.. I would have been happy enough to renew something soon, but this new wording in ther terms makes me quite uneasy - it's just vague? Not something I'm willing to sign up for before doing my homework.

 

I'm taking my time to weigh up what other UK providers will commit to, and at the moment EE (and to some extent Three) have been 'clear' about their parameters..

 

 

@Mark

 

I would still however, if at all possible, be interested to have the definitive clarification from someone (either yourself or another moderator) as to all the details I've picked up on above?

 

When does the 'used while in the UK' count from, 'is more than whilst roaming in the EU' etc. etc. etc? How does the 'rolling' period work? (Consumption varies a lot at different times of the year..)  If I anticipate needing access to say 10GB of my roaming data, when to I need to demonstrate the 'same' use while in the UK.. I think you get my point(s)?

 

Do please take the time to skim over my previous points as I do feel these are quite relevant details in the small print. With other operators it's mostly very easy to quantify, and you are simply 'capped' at a fair level..

 

Many thanks again in advance  🙏