A MAJOR mobile network with millions of customers has extended its free roaming offer in a boon for holidaymakers.
Tesco Mobile has confirmed its Home from Home EU roaming offer will close a year later than planned, in 2026.
It means customers can carry on using their minutes, texts and data allowances at no extra cost when travelling to one of 48 locations.
Since the start of January 2021, when Brexit came into effect, UK mobile phone users have no longer received free roaming in the EU by law.
Most major networks have either reintroduced roaming costs since that date, although not all, including Tesco.
Tesco Mobile piggybacks off data provided by 02’s network, which has retained free EU roaming since since early 2022.
Jonathan Taylor, chief executive officer of Tesco Mobile, said: “As well as benefiting from great savings and frozen prices, we’re delighted to confirm that customers on a Clubcard Prices deal (including both new and mid-contract customers) will now also enjoy EU roaming for no extra cost for the length of their minimum contract period.
“This extension to 2026 and its introduction to the Clubcard Price proposition is a testament to our commitment to providing exceptional value and convenience to our customers.”
It is not just EU countries Tesco Mobile customers can roam free in across the world until 2026. Here is a full list of the 48 locations:
GiffGaff plans can be used in the EU and some other destinations at no extra cost.
If you’re a pay as you go customer, the provider says it will charge you at your usual UK rates.
However, there is a cap of 5GB, and if you go over this you’ll be charged 3.2p/minute, 1p/text, 10p/MB.
If you’re travelling outside of the EU, then roaming rates apply.
A full list of all the countries with free roaming is on the GiffGaff website.
Roaming comes as standard on all iD mobile phone and SIM only plans.
This means customers can use their UK monthly allowances of minutes, text and data in 50 destinations worldwide.
There is a fair use data cap of 30GB, after which you are likely to be charged.
You can see the full list of countries included on the iD mobile website.
Lebara says that you can use UK plan allowances while roaming in the EU or India for no extra cost.
There is a fair use cap of up to 30GB on the unlimited data plan.
For roaming outside of Europe and India, you will need to buy an appropriate roaming add-on or use pay-as-you-go (PAYG) credit.
You can find out the rates for individual countries using this checker.
O2 is the only one of the four major network providers that has not brought back roaming charges.
If you’re travelling in what it calls its “Europe Zone”, you can call text or use data like you would in the UK and for no extra cost.
There is a fair usage cap of 25GB.
If you’re travelling outside of Europe, you can buy a bolt on, which gives you free roaming in a further 27 countries.
Plusnet’s “Roam Like at Home” offering lets customers use their monthly plan allowance in more than 40 EU destinations, including France, Spain, Italy and Germany.
Plusnet has a fair usage policy in place which applies to any plans with a data allowance of 20GB or more each month.
If you use more than 15GB of your monthly allowance in one billing cycle, you might have to pay a surcharge.
You can see the full list of included countries on the Plusnet website.
Smarty lets its customers roam in the EU for no extra costs. If your plan includes calls and texts, they’ll also work as usual.
There’s a fair use limit on data of up to 12GB. After that you can choose to buy data add-ons.
You can see the full list of countries on the Smarty website.
Talkmobile is another network with free EU roaming.
For customers who joined or upgraded before March 14, 2023, the fair use limit is 15GB per month.
Customers who joined after that date have a much lower allowance of 5GB per month.
If you are running out of your EU Inclusive Roaming allowance, you can purchase a Euro Holiday Booster.
The full list of countries where you can roam is on the Talkmobile website.
Tesco Mobile has extended its free roaming offer until 2025.
That means that you can use your text, call, and data allowances at no extra cost in 48 destinations.
Tesco has not yet confirmed when in 2025 the changes will happen, so if you’re planning a holiday for the beginning of the year, contact the operator to see what the rules will be.
BT Mobile’s ‘Roam Like Home’ offering lets its customers roam for free in 47 destinations.
The provider says that you can use your mobile plan allowance to use data, make calls and send texts back to the UK as well as to receive calls and texts for free when you’re roaming in these zones.
It doesn’t have a cap as such, but does say that there might be a surcharge if you use more than the fair use policy allowance of 50GB of data in one monthly billing period.
It also warns that when roaming in Northern Cyprus, you may connect to a Turkish network.
As Turkey isn’t in the EU and isn’t a Roam Like Home country, BT Mobile will charge you for any data or minutes used.
You can see the full list of countries and rules on the BT Mobile page.
Simrat Sharma, a mobiles expert at Uswitch, said switching to an eSIM - short for embedded SIM - can be cheaper than using international roaming.
“eSIMs make it easier to change networks,” she said.
“So for example, if you’re abroad you can quickly connect to the local network to pay local rates – without having to add or swap a physical local SIM card for your device.
“This means travel eSIMs are almost always cheaper than using international roaming, as users are effectively tapping into the same network plans as locals.
If you’re regularly switching numbers or travelling to different locations, you’ll be able to keep them all safely in digital format rather than carrying around a number of small cards.
“The software can easily be accessed via your device’s app store and uploaded to your phone in a few quick steps.”
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