3 is withdrawing its 3 Like Home service, under which 3 customers in the UK can use their inclusive minutes, texts and services on 3 sister networks in other countries, with effect from 1 July, which is when the new EU regulations capping the price of texts sent while roaming in the EU at a maximum of €0.11 (£0.10) kick in.
The company says the decision has been taken in order to prevent bill shock for customers who roam by mistake on to non-3 networks in its sister network countries. It says it will also allow the company to offer even more competitive pricing for all of its customers when they travel abroad, not just those with 3 Like Home.
The company has issued a statement, which reads:
“3 Like Home has offered great value, but by giving away roaming calls on our sister networks weve been less able to compete on price in countries where we have no network (often the destinations most popular with UK customers). In order to be able to offer the best prices across the board, after 30 June, we will no longer offer 3 Like Home. This means that customers travelling to Austria, Denmark, Italy, Ireland and Sweden, will no longer be able to use their inclusive minutes, texts & services on the 3 sister networks and after June 30th 2009, they will pay our new standard roaming prices for calls and texts.
“By retiring 3 Like Home, we are also reducing the risk of bill shock and simplifying our offer. In the past, although a small percentage of our customers have benefitted considerably from 3 Like Home, we have had some customers report larger than expected bills after roaming by mistake on to a non-3 network in our sister network countries. With our new pricing, which we will announce shortly, customers wont need to worry whether or not theyre roaming on the right network in order to gain most from our great value voice and text roaming rates. Well be announcing new EU roaming pricing this summer and will continue to push for lower wholesale roaming rates so that we can offer even better prices across the board in the future.”