EE becomes latest UK telco to scrap roaming fees in Europe

EE on Thursday became the latest U.K. telco to announce free roaming in select markets, as the EU prepares to do away with retail roaming rates.

All customers will get inclusive roaming in 47 destinations, which includes all EU member states and their dependencies, the European Economic Area (EEA) – which consists of Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein – and Switzerland, Monaco, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.

EE also launched a new range of price plans called 4GEE Max, which extend free roaming to a further five markets: the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Canada.

"Our customers want to be able to stay connected whether they’re travelling around the U.K. or abroad. We go further to provide our customers with 4G in more places across the U.K. than any other operator, and we're offering inclusive roaming in more destinations as well – so our customers can stay in touch whether they're lying on a beach in the Mediterranean, checking out the latest restaurants in New York, or hiking in New Zealand," said EE CEO Marc Allera.

EE's announcement comes less than a month after Vodafone made a similar move, scrapping roaming charges in 40 countries.

In both cases, the telcos positioned themselves as responding to customer demand, which may indeed be the case, but the announcements just happen to coincide with the EU-wide ban on retail roaming rates, which comes into force on 15 June.

O2 is no doubt preparing a similar announcement. 3UK might not be though, since it has been offering free roaming in select markets since August 2013.