Three abolishes roaming charges in seven countries

Mobile network Three has announced today that they have abolished their roaming charges in seven countries.

Called ‘Feel at Home’, the scheme widen their UK price plan across the European Union will be Initially available in Republic of Ireland, Australia, Italy, Austria, Hong Kong, Sweden and Denmark.

“As soon as you arrive and your device picks up any local mobile network, it’s good to go and you can start posting envy-inducing holiday status updates straight away,” said Three in a press release.

“By abolishing expensive roaming charges in select countries we are allowing our customers to get even more value from their minutes, texts and data abroad by removing the fear associated with staying in touch while travelling,” said Three’s marketing director, Thomas Malleschitz.

The scheme is part of a wider plan to simplify their tariff system, following on from the introduction last month of a 3-2-1 Pay as you Go plan offering rates of 3p a minute calls, 2p per text, and 1p per megabyte of data.

Three’s plans ties into a wider push by the European Union to abolish roaming charges across the continent, but these proposals have been criticised by telecoms executives for “taking away incentives for investment.”

 As well lowering costs on mobile networks, the EU also has ambitious plans to provide access of broadband of 100 Mbps to half of all European households by 2020.