3 UK extended its Feel At Home plans that eliminate roaming charges for its customers into a further five markets, including the popular UK holiday destination of France.
France, Switzerland, Israel, Finland and Norway will join the U.S., Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Macau, Australia, Italy, Austria, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark and Republic of Ireland, where the service has been available since 2013.
"Roaming charges are a rip-off and 3 is tackling the issue head-on. We haven't just reduced charges; we've now scrapped them in 16 destinations, making it fairer, easier and more enjoyable to use your phone abroad," said 3 UK CEO Dave Dyson.
Feel At Home will automatically activate when customers arrive in one of the 16 countries, allowing mobile phones to pick up a local network. France is a particular target, as an estimated 17.1 million Britons are expected to cross the channel for a holiday there this year.
3 is not the only operator to be addressing roaming charges in the European Union ahead of plans by the European Commission to abolish roaming charges completely.
For example, earlier this year Iliad's Free Mobile, Bouygues Telecom and Orange France all said they are including roaming within national mobile plans.
While it is still pursuing the Connected Continent package that includes the plan to abolish roaming fees, the European Commission has previously welcomed what it sees as the positive moves being made by operators to tackle the issue head on.
For more:
- see this 3 UK release
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