Roaming charges are coming back for Brits – many may shop around to avoid them

Following Brexit, roaming charges are coming back for many Brits travelling in the European Union, and new YouGov polling suggests consumers may be willing to shop around to avoid them.

Around half of British consumers say they they’re likely to change providers if a roaming charge is applied when travelling in the EU (53%).

Since 2017, mobile customers in the United Kingdom have largely been able to use their tariffs – including calls, texts and data – freely when travelling inside the EU. But the EU trade deal signed in December 2020 opened the door to the resumption of charges.

Our data also shows a sizable proportion of the British population, 68%, say a roaming charge would have at least a little influence on what tariff they choose when in the market. A quarter say it would have no bearing at all on their purchase decision (25%).

About one in five Brits say roaming charges are fair (22%), while the vast majority (71%) say they’re unfair.

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Methodology: YouGov polled 1,000 British adults online on August 9, 2021 between 4:02 and 5:14 BST. The survey was carried out through YouGov Direct. Data is weighted by age, gender, education level, region, and social grade. Results are nationally representative of adults in Great Britain. The margin of error is 5.2% for the overall sample. Learn more about YouGov Direct.