Data roaming rules to protect UK holidaymakers
Under established Ofcom consumer protection rules, mobile phone providers are required to notify customers immediately upon entering a roaming zone.
These regulations, which were fully implemented in October 2024, ensure that networks provide clear and accurate pricing information - such as daily fees and data caps - before a customer incurs any charges.
This transparency allows travellers to make informed decisions about their usage while abroad, preventing the 'bill shock' that was common in previous years according to current Ofcom guidance.
Data roaming is where your mobile phone operator uses other networks to access the internet and make calls and texts when you're outside you carrier's coverage area.
When the UK was in the EU mobile phone customers could use their phones in the EU without extra roaming charges. However, this rule ceased to apply from January 1 2021.
Because your carrier is piggybacking off another network, you're not automatically covered in your phone contract so you're usually charged by the minute, text or megabyte. The only ways to avoid excessive roaming charges are to turn off data roaming on your phone and rely on wifi access, or pay for a pass from your network provider.
Some operators have kept the EU free roaming option for customers, but others have added daily or weekly charges. There has also always been charges to roam for the rest of the world as well.
As of March 2026, pay-monthly customers typically face daily charges of between £2.00 and £2.50 for EU roaming, although some providers still offer free roaming as a premium 'add-on'.
For those travelling further afield, the costs increase significantly. In popular destinations like the US or Australia, daily fees generally range from £5.00 to £7.50, which can lead to a weekly bill of over £50 if not managed.
In more expensive zones, such as Saudi Arabia, out-of-bundle data rates remain high, with some providers charging upwards of £250 for a typical week of moderate usage based on 2025/2026 market averages.
Phone networks now need to have measures in place to help customers reduce or limit their spending on roaming while in the UK. This could include treating mobile usage in Ireland the same as being in the UK to prevent a situation where someone in Northern Ireland is connected to a network in the Republic of Ireland and therefore charged outside their usage allowance.
In the rules, which came into force on October 1 2024, mobile phone networks must "provide clear, comprehensible, accurate information so a customer can make informed decisions when roaming".
This includes:
- Enabling customers to understand any charges that apply to using roaming services, any fair use limits and the time period that applies to any time-limited charges.
- Informing customers they can specify or modify a mobile bill limit and direct them to information on how to add a limit.
- Directing customers to free to access, clear, comprehensible and accurate additional information on roaming.
- Having measures in place to reduce and/or limit spending on inadvertent roaming while they are in the UK.
- Providing clear, comprehensible and accurate information to customers about the above measures and also how to avoid inadvertent roaming in and outside of the UK, particularly in border regions.
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