Martin Lewis' MSE warns over O2, EE, Vodafone rule change starting today

Martin Lewis and his Money Saving Expert team have celebrated a huge victory in the form of new rules to tackle "confusing" mobile phone roaming fees. UK mobile providers ike O2, EE, Three, Vodafone will be required to notify customers when they start roaming while abroad from October 1.

They will also have to notify customers of any "fair use" limits or time limits that apply to their phone package. "Fair use" caps the amount of your UK data allowance you can use while roaming in Europe.

BBC and ITV star Mr Lewis' team at MSE explained: "If you use your mobile abroad, your provider will now be forced to automatically send you clearer alerts about roaming costs under new rules from telecoms regulator Ofcom, which take effect from today (Tuesday 1 October). The change follows our long-running campaign for consumers' roaming rights to be increased after existing protections ended post-Brexit."

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Under Ofcom's new rules, mobile providers will now have to send you a notification when you start roaming. This message should include at what point you start roaming and, if there is a charge based on a period of time, when the period starts and ends, any fair use or time limits that apply, the option to set a spending cap to control costs and where to find additional information on roaming limits and costs.

Cristina Luna-Esteban, Ofcom’s Director of Telecoms Consumer Policy, said: “Our new protections will mean you’re told what it’ll cost when you start roaming, so you can be confident that there won’t be any surprises when it comes to your mobile bill while on holiday.”

MSE said: "We've long called for better roaming rights for consumers and have given evidence to the regulator on the issue. In 2022, our Roaming Risk report highlighted how networks weren't always upfront about how they defined what a 'day' was under their daily roaming charges."