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Yesterday saw the UK Government sign one of its largest services-focused trade deals to date, this time with the beautifully mountainous Central European country of Switzerland, which among other things included an agreement to support surcharge-free international mobile roaming.
At present a lot of UK mobile operators already offer roaming options, either as an inclusive part of your mobile plan or as a paid add-on, although it’s worth noting that the data (mobile broadband) side of such allowances usually still come attached to a Fair Usage Policy (FUP); the latter is a fairly standard practice, even for many mobile operators within Europe.
The good news is that the new UK-Switzerland trade deal will officially scrap roaming charges between the two countries, although precisely when this will be introduced across the primary UK mobile operators of EE, O2 and VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK) remains unclear.
“The UK and Switzerland intend to include surcharge-free international mobile roaming. This would mean that UK tourists and business travellers would be able to use their mobile phones in Switzerland as part of their regular phone contract and without incurring extra roaming charges,” said the official announcement.
ABTA – The Travel Association Chief Executive, Mark Tanzer, said:
“We want travel to be as easy and smooth as possible, so this announcement includes great outcomes for British holidaymakers and business travellers, particularly the permanent arrangement for visa-free service supply for 90 days per calendar year.
Removing roaming charges would give people one less thing to think about before their trip and should make it cheaper to stay in touch too.
Plus, giving UK visitors access to Swiss eGates will make going through the airport smoother and quicker for tourists and business travellers alike. We know it’s not something that can just happen overnight, but it is encouraging to see that Switzerland has a plan in place to make it happen. Removing travel frictions like these with major European partners is so important for UK tourism and exports.”
The official government FTA announcement ranked free mobile roaming as no.4 on its list of top benefits from the deal.