UK network Three joins EE and Vodafone in adding a £2/day charge for EU roaming starting May 2022; O2 will offer free EU roaming as an add-on for some plans
Three has become the latest UK mobile network to reintroduce EU roaming fees, in another post-Brexit setback for customers traveling abroad. Source: Three Media Centre .
Context & Ripple Effects
UK customers had enjoyed the EU-wide abolition of mobile roaming fees since 2017, following the EU agreement to end roaming charges. EE’s earlier decision to charge new customers £2 per day from January 2022 marked the first break in that arrangement among UK operators.
Three’s move extends the reversal beyond EE, while O2 is preserving free EU roaming for some plans as an add-on. The result is a clearer split in how operators package travel connectivity after Brexit.
First-order effects
- Three customers travelling in the EU face a £2-per-day charge from May 2022, aligning Three with EE and Vodafone’s paid-roaming approach.
- O2 gains a plan-level point of differentiation by retaining free EU roaming as an add-on for eligible customers.
Second-order effects
- EE, Vodafone and Three now compete less on universal roaming inclusion and more on the pricing and eligibility rules attached to travel use; O2 can use its add-on to target customers who value it.
- Customers comparing UK mobile plans will need to treat EU usage as a separate cost, reversing the simpler expectation created by the 2017 removal of charges across EU countries.
Third-order effects
- The pattern shifts EU roaming from a standardized consumer entitlement back to an operator-controlled plan feature in the UK, with post-Brexit terms enabling divergent offers.
- If more plans adopt paid roaming, travel connectivity becomes a durable segmentation tool: operators can charge frequent travellers while reserving inclusive access for selected tariffs.
The trend: UK mobile operators are turning EU roaming from a common included benefit into a differentiated, post-Brexit pricing feature.