Following Brexit, UK laws requiring operators to alert customers of roaming charges when they start roaming ceased to apply, although many operators have continued to send alerts.

The new Ofcom rules will require mobile providers to notify customers when they start roaming. Providers must also provide clear, free-to-access information so customers can decide how to use their mobile phones abroad. This includes understanding roaming charges, such as:

– Any fair use limits or time limits that apply;

– The ability to set a spend cap to limit their expenditure;

– Where to find additional information about roaming.

Inadvertent Roaming

Customers will be alerted if they are inadvertently roaming. Networks must provide accurate information about how to avoid inadvertent roaming in and outside of the UK, particularly in border regions. Networks must also implement measures to help customers reduce or limit their spend on roaming while in the UK. This could include treating mobile usage in Ireland as the same as in the UK.

Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch.com, said:

“This is good news. While many providers have competitive roaming policies in place, there is still inconsistency between providers and the clarity of the information available. However, it won’t prevent them from being subject to roaming costs, which can be £9 per MB of data in some countries. There is still nothing to stop providers from charging whatever they like when you use your phone abroad.

“British travellers were hit last year with unexpectedly high roaming charges, totalling £539 million. We hope this change will go some way to reducing this.

“Travellers should remain cautious when using data abroad and look at alternatives, such as a travel eSIM, or consider providers that include roaming at no additional charge.”

Vodafone UK has announced that it will reintroduce “roaming passes” for new and upgrading users from August 11.

The passes will come into effect on January 6 2022 and will charge users £2 per day. Customers will be given the option to buy eight and 15 day passes for £1 per day under the new rules.

EE was the first network to reintroduce roaming charges to its users, revealing the plans in June.

In June, a spokesperson for Vodafone told Mobile News: “We have no current plans to change our approach to roaming in the EU.”

PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said:

“The harsh realities of Brexit are becoming more evident, the gift that keeps on taking. Wholesale roaming rates will change given UK’s exit and this, in turn, will inevitably drive higher prices without EU protection. It’s a pretty easy decision for UK telcos.

“All telcos are struggling with margins being squeezed and are seeking ways of increasing revenue while investing billions in costly next-generation fixed and mobile networks.

“A saving grace for phone users is that the telcos have made moves designed to avoid unexpected bill shocks.

“Flat rate fees for those who do not have roaming included as standard in selected plans will provide some transparency.

“EE moved first and unfairly took the brunt of the news.

“I fully expect others to follow suit, not a question of if but when. Timing will be important given the arrival of new devices. You can foresee Three seeking to maintain its existing position for as long as possible to ensure some form of differentiation over rivals.

“We have seen time after time that costs always get passed onto consumers.

“Phone users will now need to be savvier when travelling abroad. Some will have roaming included on higher-priced plans and premium devices, while others will be forced to look at switching to Wi-Fi and take out local e-sim options.”

EE has announced it will reintroduce roaming charges for new customers from January 2022.

The mobile operator says that those joining or upgrading from July 7 2021 will be charged £2 per day to use the network in 47 European destinations.

EE becomes the first operator to reintroduce the charges since Brexit.

This comes despite all four operators saying that they would not reintroduce roaming charges in January 2021.

UK customers will not be charged for using their devices in the Republic of Ireland but customers travelling to the 47 affected countries will be able to buy 30-day passes to use their home tariff abroad.

It remains to be seen if the other operators will follow suit.

CCS Insight director of consumer and connectivity Kester Mann said: “The reintroduction of roaming charges reflects a failure by UK telecom operators to stem the long-term decline in average customer spend amid heavy investment in future fixed-line and mobile networks.

“BT would not have taken this decision lightly. Roaming is a poisonous term for consumers after travellers were hit by exorbitant prices for years. But this is also a far cry from the bad old days. EE’s £2 per day charge represents a fraction of the cost of an EU holiday.

“Still, the company knows it will not be well received by its customers, and that it has handed on a plate a clear marketing opportunity to rivals. It would have had to carefully calculate that the upside outweighs any potential reputational damage.”

After @O2 also made changes, will @VodafoneUK and @ThreeUK follow suit? Both wish to be known as a consumer champion, but is this too good an opportunity to turn down?

— Kester Mann (@kestermann) June 24, 2021

Uswitch.com mobiles expert Ernest Doku added: “In the aftermath of Brexit, the UK’s biggest mobile providers all said that they had no immediate plans to change their charging models for consumers roaming within the EU.

“It’s hugely disappointing for consumers to see that situation change so quickly.

“This move means that customers joining or upgrading with EE from July will have to pay £2 a day to use their data and minutes across Europe from 2022. EE says the move will support investment in its UK-based services, but this is ultimately a backwards step for consumers.

“Unfortunately, when one provider makes such a bold decision it can mean that others follow, so we’ll be watching to see what O2, Vodafone and Three do next. If you’re an existing EE customer, these charges won’t affect you yet, but make sure you check the small print if you’re due an upgrade in the coming months.

“When it comes to travelling, don’t leave it till the last minute to check the roaming charges for your destination, and always use hotel and cafe Wi-Fi when on holiday where possible.”

Operator response

Three UK said Three’s position on roaming will not change but they will not be implementing a roaming fee. However, there has been a change to fair usage.

A spokesperson for the network said:

“Following a review of our fair use policy, we are making some changes to our Go Roam policy in the EU to bring it in line with our Go Roam Around the World fair use policy. This means from July 1 our fair use limit for data while in the EU will reduce from 20GB per month to 12GB.

“The new fair use limit is still more than enough for holidaymakers to use their phone like they would if they were in the UK. There is no change to our surcharge, so data usage over 12GB (up to the customer’s allowance), will remain subject to a small fee of 0.3p per MB.”

A spokesperson for Vodafone said: “We have no current plans to change our approach to roaming in the EU.”

O2 has extended its 25GB roaming fair usage data limit (currently in place for customers with unlimited data plans) to other pay monthly customers. It confirmed it had no plans to otherwise change the current roam like at home arrangements.

A spokesperson for O2 said: “Less than 1 per cent of our Pay Monthly customers reach anywhere near 25GB during occasional travel to Europe. If a customer’s UK monthly data allowance is over 25GB, from August 2 they will have a Roaming Limit of 25GB in our Europe Zone.

“This means they can use up to 25GB of their allowance at no extra cost – we’ll text them if they get close to the limit, and again if they reach it.  A customer can still use data if they reach our Roaming Limit, but will be charged £3.50/GB.”

For more reaction see the next issue of Mobile News Magazine.

2020 will be a key year for 5G with global mobile subscriptions growing strongly to reach 7.3 billion according to a new report from The Economist.

The growth will be particularly rapid in Asia, the Middle East and Africa where mobile penetration will grow by 11 per cent.

The research also revealed that the number of fixed lines will continue to decline while fixed broadband subscriber lines will increase to nearly 1.1 billion in 2020.

However, there are also substantial risks to these forecasts, including the US-China trade war, Brexit and Huawei’s security concerns.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s chief telecoms analyst Matt Kendall said: “The global telecoms sector can bank on yet more global growth during 2020, but the challenge will be to make that growth profitable.

“Most subscribers are unwilling to pay more for extra telecoms services or faster speeds.

“Operators will try to come up with compelling use cases, but many of them are likely to have cut costs during 2020 in order to improve their average revenue per user.”

Eight out of 10 UK SMEs expect their income to fall because of Brexit, according to new research commissioned by Onecom.

The research, carried out by market consultancy Consumer Intelligence on Onecom’s behalf, surveyed 208 business owners, workers and self-employed individuals about their key business concerns and stress levels.

Nearly a third (30 per cent) said that Brexit concerns could force cutbacks in their recruitment plans, and a quarter expect that Britain leaving the EU will see them reduce their overall workforce size.

Just six per cent expected work stress levels to fall over the next two years.

The highest business concern among those polled was business rates, which were revalued in 2017 for the first time since 2010. More than 70 per cent of SMEs were concerned about the effect this was having on its operating costs.

Onecom CEO Ben Dowd said: “Many small business owners have seen a significant increase in their operating costs since the last revaluation of business rates, while the scourge of late payments threatens to damage growth prospects of affected businesses. The telecoms industry is responding to these pressures by offering opportunities to our clients to lease hardware and take out finance options.

“SMEs account for a massive 99.9% of the UK’s 5.7 million private sector businesses and are therefore vital to a healthy economy and jobs market. It’s why it’s so important that we support our small businesses with leading technology solutions and a variety of choice to help future proof their business comms and make them as efficient as they possibly can be.”

Cybersecurity is an increasingly important issue in the UK, amid constant news of international espionage and fear-inducing reports of frequent cyber-attacks.

UK businesses were hit by an average of almost 120,000 cyber attacks each in the first quarter of 2019, equating to one every minute, according to internet service provider Beaming. This was more than double the 54,000 over the same period last year, with the attacks coming from a range of countries, including China, Russia, Egypt, Brazil and the US.

Despite these gloomy statistics, the UK is generally considered among the countries at the forefront of combating cybersecurity, ranking first in the International Telecommunication Union’s 2018 Global Cybersecurity Index ahead of the US and France. However, a host of industry developments and upcoming technologies such as 5G and IoT are adding to the pressure to get cybersecurity right.

Basic issues

But before even getting onto new technologies, there are already issues with some of the basics.

One problem is that companies’ increasingly complex password requirements have sometimes had the opposite effect to their aim of providing extra security, says Kc Cico, managing director of Blackphone, a manufacturer of secure smartphones on Android based Silent OS software. This is because, he explains, people reuse passwords that they find harder to remember for their subscriptions to multiple digital services.

“Passwords used to be six digits, then eight, then 10, and
then included letters and numbers and characters,” says Cico. “The biggest mistake people make is to use the same password for everything, so it leaves them more open to breaches.” And even before this greater level of complexity, some people have made access too easy. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) reports, for instance, that the most used password in the UK is ‘123456’ – a combination found 23.2 million times in various UK accounts.

Businesses are also not always careful, as illustrated by Cico: “I gave a Blackphone demo to a large firm in central London that had spent millions on its Symantec [computer software] licence and it didn’t go ahead with securing its phones even though it cost a fraction of that,” he says.

“The phone is with you all the time: it’s the biggest piece of surveillance equipment in the world.”

IoT threat

The Internet of Things is, meanwhile, ramping up the security threat for both consumers and businesses, with the number of IoT devices expected to increase from 23 billion worldwide now to 31 billion in 2020 and 75 billion in 2025, according to Statista.

Cybersecurity firm F-Secure reported that the number of IoT threats, which can be massive-scale, grew from 19 to 38 in 2018, while digital security company Gemalto found that just 48 per cent of businesses that used IoT devices could detect when they had suffered a security breach.

“When it comes to the consumer IoT side of things, it is a mobile problem, in that devices such as those for the smart household typically connect back to a mobile device,” says Tom Davison, EMEA director at mobile security firm Lookout.

“The other day, a friend of mine came to work waving his phone around because he had just installed smart tech at home and could watch his daughter getting ready for school,” says Brian Higgins, a security specialist at consumer website Comparitech.

“I took him aside for a chat and he disabled pretty much all of it.” Davison has observed a trend that younger people who use IoT devices can sometimes be too trusting of their mobiles, making them a ripe target for exploitation.

“Verizon’s 2019 Mobile Security Index found that 17 per cent of phishing attacks came through messaging apps like Slack and WhatsApp. Users tend to be more trusting of those apps, so IoT is an enabler for those attacks,” he says.

As the demand for IoT devices rises, there is also a concern that companies rushing to get them to market are neglecting security requirements – which can’t easily be fixed post-release.

“It’s almost impossible to implement security for most IoT devices after purchase,” says Canalys market research analyst Claudio Stahnke. “For example, a smart thermometer doesn’t have an interface to update its software; it’s just a sensor.”

The UK appears to be leading the fight to enforce standards, however, with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport last year publishing a Code of Practice for Consumer IoT Security that has been translated into seven languages. Minister for Digital Margot James is holding a consultation until June 5 that concerns new laws around the code’s first three items – no default passwords, implementation of a policy for disclosing vulnerabilities, and a pledge to keep software updated.

The code was written by David Rogers, CEO of mobile and IoT security firm Copper Horse, who believes the UK can drive initiatives in global IoT security. “The UK massively punches above its weight [in cybersecurity],” he says. We have a lot of expertise and academics, and we’ve contributed to the discipline. If you look at the respect the NCSC has and how other countries try to emulate it, that clearly shows we’re doing something right.”

Rogers adds that greater security is needed as new technology emboldens cyber-criminals: “Security is a complex game of chess. If you put in place a defensive measure, it doesn’t mean the motivation of an attacker goes away.”

Hacker Steve Lord, who runs the annual IT security event 44CON, attributes the UK’s good standing to the public’s belief in its institutions: “People believe that the government exists to help us and that agencies are there to serve us, and I think that view is shared by people in the government and law enforcement – they view public service as their job.”

Huawei debate

The debate over the use of Huawei equipment in the UK’s forthcoming 5G rollout has, however, called into question the government’s leading status on cybersecurity.

While many government figures strongly contest the vendor’s cooperation in building “non-core” telecoms infrastructure, heads of the top UK operators are in favour of its involvement. Mobile UK, the trade association for the big four operators, says that a partial to full restriction on Huawei in the telecoms supply chain could result in a delay of up to two years in the widespread availability of 5G, at a cost of up to £6.8 billion to the economy.

The conversation isn’t helped by sometimes hazy press coverage: a recent Bloomberg story claimed that Vodafone Italy had found hidden back doors in Huawei-supplied equipment that “could have given Huawei unauthorised access to the carrier’s fixedline network”.

Vodafone and Huawei both refuted the story, stating that the ‘back door’ was a normal part of the network used by many vendors. “That story was utter clickbait, because back door is a trigger term for people,” says Rogers. “It’s more about the lack of quality in the product and the requirement to keep stuff generally secure. We as ordinary people don’t know all the facts, so it’s a waste of brainpower speculating on it.”

Stahnke adds: “This story was a misrepresentation. You can find legacy security flaws from most vendors in most products that have been subsequently patched, so this shouldn’t be used as evidence that Huawei is unreliable.”

But Lord remains sceptical that it’s safe. “As long as you never power up a piece of Huawei kit and it has no power going to it, it’s perfect,” he says.

Other issues

The arrival of 5G carries other security implications too, even without considering Huawei or IoT.

“The most immediate vulnerability to 5G is that to make the network faster, it needs to run off more devices: more routers, more masts, et cetera,” says Higgins. “Since every device is a point of potential attack, it’s simple maths that the threat will increase in size in tandem with the 5G network.”

Davison believes 5G’s low latency and high speeds could lead to security issues, particularly for companies whose employees are using mobile devices for business. “We’re already seeing how much time people are spending on mobile devices for work and that has been creeping up,” he says. “My expectation is that more work will be done over 5G than over WiFi, so we will see consumerisation of workplace devices. This has implications for security.”

Stahnke adds: “Cybersecurity threats on mobile devices will increase in frequency [with 5G]. If devices can download and upload much faster, it will be more complicated to monitor all the data transfers and easier for attackers to hide malware.”

Brexit question

Meanwhile, although Brexit may at first sight seem a concern for UK cybersecurity, it may not drastically alter the landscape. The global nature of most mobile organisations and the UK’s pre-existing commitment to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as its burgeoning IoT security legislation, means that exiting the EU is unlikely to change the threat level.

“On the standards side, most bodies are global. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute has nothing to do with the EU, so there’s nothing preventing UK participation in that,” says Rogers. “GDPR is already part of UK law and this is one area where the UK probably leads the way, so it’s one area we’re not that bothered about.”

Higgins agrees: “The people responsible for our national security are a grown-up bunch. I’m not losing any sleep [over Brexit] just yet.”

Stahnke agrees to an extent, but thinks that in the event of a hard Brexit, UK businesses will tighten up security to satisfy cautious European business partners: “We expect a push towards adopting more cybersecurity in the event of a hard Brexit, because European firms might be more wary of UK firms from a legal standpoint.”

Indeed, this seems to already be in motion, with more than half of UK businesses having increased cybersecurity spending since the 2016 referendum, according to data security firm Clearswift.

But the main thing is to keep informed as the telecoms landscape and threats evolve. In this way, companies and consumers certainly have the means to be protected as cybersecurity evolves in tandem – even though it’s unlikely cyber-attacks will ever be totally stamped out.

Nearly three years since the UK voted narrowly in favour of leaving the European Union, that exit is – supposedly, at least – nearly here.

In the referendum vote in June 2016, the ‘Leave’ campaign narrowly edged out ‘Remain’ by 51.9 to 48.1 per cent, with over 17.4 million people voting for the UK to leave the EU.

Since the results were confirmed, British politics has been dominated by the so- called Brexit, with debate after debate in the House of Commons over how to secure the best outcome for the country.

Prime Minister Theresa May has already seen two proposed Brexit deals rejected by fellow MPs, with the process proving anything but straightforward and causing uncertainty for UK businesses.

There have been debates over a hard or soft Brexit, as well as several calls for either a second referendum or a “people’s vote”, with MPs voting in March to seek a three-month delay to Brexit until June 30.

With so much uncertainty, what does this mean for UK telecoms and its consumer and business-to-business markets?

TRADE AND SUPPLY

Trade between the UK and member states is expected to become disrupted as Britain exits the EU – which has effectively become a single market in which goods and people can move around as if within a country.

With the UK set to leave, many also expect the value of the pound to suffer against the euro – at least in the short term.

This is a “real concern”, says Nigel Prince, managing director at distributor New Way International. “There’s a big worry about how the currency will become affected as result of Brexit. It’s a real concern how strong the pound will be against the euro and US dollar.”

There may also be supply chain issues, says Imran Choudhary, director for technology at research company GfK.

“Aside from the currency, other negative impacts are likely to include disrupted supply chains and logistics, and higher admin costs,” he says. “For the B2B industry it will have an impact on what it will be able to export.”

In addition, concerns have been raised over a potential return of roaming charges for using data when abroad in the EU.

However, Three (for one) has announced that it will not add any additional roaming costs, regardless of the final Brexit outcome.

Three CEO Dave Dyson said “We’re committed to eradicating excessive roaming charges and will retain this customer benefit regardless of Brexit negotiations, allowing our customers to continue using their usual allowances when they travel within the EU.”

Following Three’s announcement, CCS Insight senior analyst Kester Mann believes it will be difficult for any of the other operators to apply additional costs for roaming.

“I don’t think operators will revert to this, as the UK is such a competitive market – plus these operators already offer roaming outside the EU as a differentiator.”

“In theory the operators could introduce this but if the operators backtrack on this because it could be risky for them.”

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE

There are also questions over consumer confidence during the period of uncertainty caused by Brexit.

This comes on top of several factors that have already contributed to a decline in the UK smartphone market in recent years, as it has matured.

Increased product lifecycles, better hardware and higher prices have led to consumers holding onto their phones for longer – and Mann believes that although these struggles would continue even in the absence of Brexit, the UK’s departure from the EU will not help the market.

“The downward trend will continue with or without Brexit, despite the innovation we saw at the Mobile World Congress,” he says. “However, with Brexit we might see that consumer confidence won’t be as strong, as people will be more nervous about making big investments.”

Choudhary, meanwhile, says that British consumers have been “stoic” in the face of the unknown, but does foresee a downturn in SIM-free handset sales.

“These sales will come under increasing pressure,” he says. “They are currently on a growth trajectory, but this could be dampened by Brexit. Consumers may be less likely to spend money on brand new phones.”

PLANNING AHEAD

With Brexit looming, many businesses will have planned for the future with this in mind – something that has been the case for New Way.

The distributor, which has a business in Germany, opened a further centre in the Dutch city of Rotterdam in September.

In the event of Brexit, this international presence also offers backup for the business, including staff, logistics functions and a warehouse.

Despite not being too concerned about the UK’s departure harming how New Way operates, Prince says that having a plan to cater for it is essential.

“We’re one of the more fortunate UK businesses, as we already have an established business out in Germany,” he says. “With this, we have staff, logistics and a warehouse, and this offers us a backup plan.”

Prince adds: “We’re ready to do what we need to do, whether that is moving stock around or selling stock in Europe directly.”

Meanwhile, vendor Alcatel has said it has been planning ahead for the worst-case scenario in the event of Brexit, inlcuding for the possibility of a no-deal outcome.

At the Mobile World Congress, Alcatel’s UK and Ireland country director William Paterson told Mobile News that the firm has planned for the worst when it comes to potential stock issues.

“We planned and reorganised the supply chain to bring in products in a sufficient manner,” he said. “We will be bringing products directly from China to the UK and avoiding customs in Paris.”

5G QUESTION

There is also a question surrounding whether Brexit will affect the launch of 5G in the UK, given the investment required at a time of uncertainty.

Operators EE and Vodafone plan to debut the technology this year, with EE launching in 16 cities and Vodafone in 19 this year.

Mann doesn’t believe, however, that 5G rollout will be affected, as the infrastructure is already in place.

“I don’t expect 5G to be impacted by Brexit,” he says. “EE in particular is determined to be at the forefront of this and Vodafone isn’t far behind.

“It seems to be full steam ahead for 5G, and the operators seem to be pushing on with plans rather than reining them in. It appears that Brexit isn’t influencing this, which is quite encouraging.”

Choudhary agrees, adding that he doesn’t think the UK will fall behind with 5G because the investment has already been put in place. 

“5G is critical to the development of the mobile industry,” he says. “The capital expenditure required for 5G has already been thought of and all the mobile operators are working towards this.” 

Choudhary does, however, believe that the Brexit situation could affect SMEs and larger businesses.

“Brexit might have a broader impact on the SME and corporate landscape in the UK, as a lot of these businesses might be planning investment in IT and telecoms infrastructure,” he says. “The uncertainty around Brexit might put them off investing in 5G hardware.”

BRIGHT SIDE?

While Brexit is anticipated to be a challenge for the UK’s telecoms industry, will there be any positive outcomes for the telecoms industry?

Some think so – or, at least, that the impact will be relatively neutral. Edward Elliot-Square, sales director at phone trader IPT.cc, says, for instance that the uncertainty doesn’t phase him.

“I’m not worried at all,” he says. “I think it is going to be positive for the industry if anything, in particular for the mobile industry.”

Elliot-Square believes the UK will be able to control its own laws and regulations, and could even become a focal point for trade.

“There will be new rules to adhere to, but this might even see the UK become a trading hub, the likes of which we see in Switzerland and Dubai,” he says. Under this scenario, he explains, other countries could “trade with confidence” with the UK because they would be dealing only with that country.

Elliot-Square also believes that from a mobile manufacturer perspective, little will alter.

“Most, if not all, of the mobile manufacturers are outside the EU, so nothing is going to change. There’s no duty on the movement of mobile phones across Europe, so I don’t see how there can be an issue with Brexit,” he says.

Eurostar Global Electronics MD Peter Carnall, meanwhile, says it will be “business as usual” once the UK leaves the EU.

Carnall shot down fears that Brexit will slow down goods entering the UK and revealed that the distributor has explored contingency options over the past two years.

“There’s not going to be a delay on products entering the UK; if we leave the EU, the goods will still come to us at the same speed they do now,” he says.

“There’s a fallacy that the doors are going to come down and goods will take forever to be shipped. I don’t think the UK government will allow that to happen.”

WAITING GAME

Although it is difficult to forecast the UK’s future with Brexit on the horizon, the shared feeling among those in the mobile industry is therefore that the impact won’t be too detrimental.

But Choudhary thinks it is a case of playing the waiting game before the full implications of Brexit for the mobile industry can be determined.

“Although most businesses will have planned for Brexit, it’s difficult to know exactly what will happen, and the long- term effects won’t be known for years,” he says.

He believes the final impact of the UK leaving the EU will hinge on how much of a hit there will be on consumer and business confidence in spending.

Three has confirmed that its customers will still be able to use their data roaming in Europe at no extra cost after Brexit, and announced that it could save its customers £187 million worth of mobile roaming charges in the event of legal changes.

The figures are based on the number of Three customers who travelled in the EU throughout 2018 and the services they used during this time and what they would have been charged at Three’s ‘out of bundle’ pricing (calls at 3p/min, texts at 2p each and data at 1p/Mb).

The network’s commitment to no extra roaming charges comes amid a time of uncertainty for consumers regarding the effects of Brexit on British travellers’ roaming charges in Europe. Three has been displaying the claim “Deal or no deal, our customers will save £187 million in roaming charges. Vote Three” on the side of a bus travelling through the streets of London.

Three CEO Dave Dyson said: “Three is the global leader in international roaming and now offers roaming at no extra cost for its customers in over 70 destinations including Brazil, Singapore, the US and Australia. We’re committed to eradicating excessive roaming charges and will retain this great customer benefit regardless of Brexit negotiations allowing our customers to continue using their usual allowances when they travel within the EU.”

Commenting on the news, CompareMyMobile expert Rob Baillie said: “Brexit has left Britons uncertain about many areas of life, and how mobile usage will be affected – especially overseas – is just one concern on a very long list. With this in mind, it’s great for Three customers to be reassured that they won’t be penalised for travelling in the EU, whatever the outcome. We predict that many consumers will now look into switching over to the Three network, for added security. Other networks, such as EE and 02, have said that they don’t expect to bring roaming charges back following Brexit, but this is yet to be confirmed and there’s no word from Vodafone just yet on their plans.

“Although customers will save money, it could also put many mobile networks out of pocket if they follow in Three’s footsteps to keep up with the competition. Roaming charges have historically been a lucrative form of income for networks, but if they don’t follow suit then they could lose customers, which in the long term would surely mean bigger financial losses. Consumers should be warned, though, that data roaming after Brexit could lead to contract prices going up, as networks look to make up the difference in what they would’ve brought in from charging for EU data usage. So, although customers may think they are getting data roaming for free, everything comes at a cost.”

Alcatel is preparing “for the worst” in the event that the UK departs the European Union without a deal by shipping stock directly to the UK.

By doing so, the French manufacturer will avoid EU customs in Paris, which is its usual practice.

The change of plan is to prepare in the event that the government is unable to reach a deal with the European Union before March 29.

Alcatel UK and Ireland country director William Paterson said the firm “planned for the worst” to mitigate the potential stock issues, due to uncertainty surrounding the UK’s departure from the EU. On March 5, ministers resumed efforts to secure legally binding changes to Theresa May’s widely criticised Brexit deal that might receive MP backing before the departure date.

The Prime Minister’s deal was rejected by a historic margin of 432 votes to 202 in the House of Commons.

Paterson said: “We planned and reorganised the supply chain to bring product in a sufficient manner. We will be bringing product directly from China to the UK and avoid customs in Paris.”

Eurostar Global Electronics MD Peter Carnall says it will be business as usual when the UK leaves the European Union on March 29.

Carnall said there would not be delays to orders and that there was a “fallacy” in beliefs that there would be bottlenecks at major UK trading ports.

Brexit has caused rival distributors to stockpile products in the event that Britain leaves with no deal to avoid disruption.

Carnall revealed that Eurostar has been exploring contingency options in the last two years, including opening an office within the EU to maintain its international business.

He boldly stated that all partners will still see their demand met with supply.

“There’s not going to be a delay on products entering the UK; if we leave the EU, the goods are still coming to us at the same speed they do now. There’s a fallacy that the doors are going to come down and goods will take forever to be shipped. I don’t think the UK government will allow that to happen,” he said.

Many companies outside the channel have relocated headquarters or moved operations away from Britain since the UK decided to leave the EU. Multibillion-dollar insurance firm Chubb has re-domiciled to France in January. US bank giants Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup have moved £214 billion of assets to Frankfurt, citing Brexit as the reason.

Eurostar Global is targeting to hit £125 million in revenue at the end of its current financial year ending on April 30. Business development director Ewan Davies said the firm would soon break the £100 million mark despite a declining mobile market.

For its last financial year (2017/18), Eurostar’s turnover increased to £78.2 million from £70.8m.

Head of commercial and vendor management Steve Hankey said the firm’s B2B business has grown “exponentially”, but did not quantify this. Eurostar currently has 250 B2B customers.

Davies said the distributor is looking to sign partnerships with large retailers to hit its targets.

Plans are in place to reorganise the B2B team, where no jobs will be lost in streamlining operations as Eurostar looks to strike more retailer partnerships.

Davies said: “We are on that track to be one of the biggest distributors in the country; we’re currently in the mix and people are talking more about Eurostar, and that’s because we are working hard on our goal to be a leader in the distribution space.”

Hankey added: “We have to work twice as hard to compete with larger players. We hold a number of USPs that differentiate us from rivals and the relationships they hold with customers.”