Brits could face EU data roaming charges after all due to Brexit vote

Pricey: North Wales Police were left to pick up the offender's bill.
PA
Sebastian Mann28 June 2016
WEST END FINAL

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Plans to abolish mobile phone roaming charges for Britons in the EU could be ditched now the UK has voted for Brexit.

The hefty fees, which can come as a nasty surprise for holiday-makers, have recently been capped by lawmakers in Brussels.

And by mid-2017 the surcharges – which apply to texting, calling and surfing the internet – are set to be abolished completely.

But the UK’s shock decision to back Brexit last week has cast doubt on whether mobile phone networks will still be obliged to offer the savings to Britons travelling abroad, according to an expert in EU competition law.

Brussels-based lawyer Kyriakos Fountoukakos told Bloomberg: “This is another area of huge uncertainty brought about by Brexit."

He added: “If the UK leaves and is outside the EU and the EEA [European Economic Area], the regulation will not be automatically applicable in the UK.”

No changes will take effect until the UK completes its two-year divorce process from the union, which does not begin until the UK government invokes Article 50 - an act David Cameron has said should be one for his successor as Prime Minister.

The EU only implemented the cap last month. It means Britons on holiday in EU nations now pay just 4p instead of about 16p to connect when they make calls.

Roaming charges for downloading data were also cut by up to 75 per cent.

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