UK operator O2 is changing its prices for pay monthly subscribers roaming charges, outside of Western Europe. Effective from 28 November, the changes will see the price to send a text or make or a mobile call abroad increase in most cases – often to the extent of double what they previously were.
The cost of receiving a call in the US and Canada will increase by more than double, going up from £0.39 to £0.90, while the cost of sending texts while roaming has been flattened to £0.40, whether the user is in Turkey, Australia, or South Africa. You can see a full table of the changes below.
A spokesperson for O2 pointed out: “This is the first time we have changed these prices in over five years and we’ve ensured they remain competitive.”
While its true that the prices are now roughly in line with its competitors – texts are also charged at a flat rate of 40p on T-Mobile, 35p on Vodafone, and as high as 50p on Orange – its not great news for O2 subscribers. Given that signs seemed to be pointing towards roaming charges finally getting cheaper, its not good for the industry as a whole either.
O2 has made calls between foreign countries cheaper, however, bringing the costs in line with calling back to the UK. Roaming data charges also havent been changed, and the operator is retaining its £40 cap on roaming data usage.
|
SMS (before) |
SMS (after) |
Outgoing call, per min (before) |
Outgoing call, per min (after) |
Receiving call, per min (before) |
Receiving call, per min (after) |
Zone 3 – Eastern Europe, Eurasia & North Africa |
£0.30 |
£0.40 |
£0.81 |
£1.25 |
£0.52 |
£1.25 |
Zone 4 – US & Canada |
£0.25 |
£0.40 |
£0.90 |
£0.90 |
£0.39 |
£0.90 |
Zone 5 – Australasia, Southeast Asia, & South Africa |
£0.30 |
£0.40 |
£0.60 |
£0.80 |
£0.43 |
£0.80 |
Zone 6 – Rest of World |
£0.40 |
£0.40 |
£1.20 |
£1.25 |
£0.85 |
£1.25 |