Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 December 2020
257. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if an agreement is in place with the UK authorities to ensure there will be no imposition of mobile telephone roaming charges from 1 January 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44440/20]
View answerEU "Roam Like at Home" (RLAH) came into effect on 15 June 2017 and provides Irish and EU consumers with the ability to use their mobile devices, within other EU countries, at domestic rates, subject to Fair Use Policy. The RLAH regulation covers data services, voice and SMS. ComReg (http://www.comreg.ie), the independent telecoms regulator, is responsible for ensuring that all providers meet relevant obligations in areas such as roaming alerts. ComReg also has information for customers in relation to roaming on their website:(https://www.comreg.ie/consumer-information/roaming).
My Department is in ongoing contact with industry and with ComReg and even in a situation where a Brexit deal was not reached at the end of the transition period, no change in consumers' experience of using their mobile phone on the island of Ireland is anticipated. While this is primarily a commercial matter for industry, telecoms operators have indicated that they do not have any plans to change current arrangements and will continue to apply the current roam like at home regime from January 2021 onwards.
