Juniper Research: Users of 5G roaming services will surpass 200M by 2026

According to a study by Juniper Research, the number of 5G roamers is set to surpass 200 million by 2026.

While much of life slowed to a crawl during the pandemic, the 5G rollout continued at pace. With the worst of the pandemic hopefully behind us, operators are now ramping up their deployments even further.

Juniper’s analysts predict an increase in the global number of 5G roamers from 4.5 million in 2021 to 210 million in 2026. As international travel cautiously...

26 July 2021 | 5G

Opinion: EE brings back fees for EU-roaming Brits

British operator EE is planning to reintroduce fees for roaming in the EU from next year while others are lowering their existing fair use policies.

Back in 2018, I wrote an opinion piece that roaming fees were unlikely to make a return. Anti-Brexit campaigner and Labour MP Hilary Benn tweeted this week that it hasn’t aged well:

In my defence, all of the operators committed not to reintroduce roaming fees—a pledge they recommitted to as late as January...

25 June 2021 | Consumers

Ookla publishes analysis of European mobile roaming speeds over lockdown

The network testing experts at Ookla have published an analysis of European mobile roaming speeds over a year defined by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Existing vaccines are, fortunately, effective against the ‘Delta’ variant which is spreading rapidly in countries like the UK. However, the reduced efficacy – especially after just one dose – has already set back the country’s lifting of remaining restrictions by four weeks.

A more virulent, deadly, and vaccine-dodging...

16 June 2021 | Connectivity

GlobalData: US carriers are falling behind in eSim adoption

GlobalData believes US mobile operators are falling behind their international counterparts in embedded SIM (eSIM) adoption.

Lynnette Luna, Principal Analyst at GlobalData, comments:

“European operators significantly ramped up support for eSIM amid the pandemic as consumers stayed out of retail stores and appreciated the convenience of signing up for service directly on a smartphone.

In contrast, while major US carriers have enabled customers to add new service...

22 April 2021 | Connectivity

KT hits one million 5G subs as it launches roaming in three European countries

South Korean telecom firm KT has entered into roaming agreements with Italy’s TIM, Switzerland’s Sunrise, and Finland’s Elisa, which would allow the company’s 5G subscribers to use the 5G networks provided by the three European operators.

KT, which has standing agreements with operators in 185 countries for 3G and LTE roaming, is now planning to extend those contracts to 5G as soon as 5G services go live in those countries. Before signing the agreements...

25 September 2019 | 5G

Vodafone 5G gets UK launch date, first to offer European roaming

Vodafone UK has set a date for its 5G network launch in addition to being the first operator to offer roaming in four European countries.

The operator will switch on its 5G network for consumers and businesses on the 3rd July 2019. Initially, it will be available in seven major cities.

Here are the first cities to go live:

Bristol

Birmingham

Cardiff

London

Glasgow

Manchester

Liverpool

A further 12 cities...

14 May 2019 | 5G

Opinion: ‘Project Fear’ turns its gaze to UK telecoms consumers

Ludicrous claims have been made from both sides of the Brexit debate, but now the so-called ‘Project Fear’ is aiming to scare UK telecoms consumers. The latest claim is a return to the dark old days of mobile roaming charges. Ending roaming charges around Europe is touted as one of the EU’s proudest achievements for citizens. It’s been welcomed by consumers who shudder at the ‘bill shock’ they once had after even a quick trip around the continent. The thing is, roaming charges...

13 September 2018 | Connectivity

LTE now represents most of the world’s roaming traffic

While most people have been talking about the next generation of mobile network technology, LTE has reached an important new milestone.

According to data from Syniverse, inter-regional LTE data roaming traffic has surpassed non-LTE data roaming traffic for the first time.

In the past year alone, LTE traffic rose to 54 percent of global outbound roaming traffic in 2017 – up from 42 percent in 2016.

John Wick, Senior Vice President at Syniverse, comments:

26 February 2018 | Connectivity

Roaming fees within the EU will be abolished by mid-June

(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/tbradford)

It’s been a long time coming, but the abolition of roaming fees across the EU is due to come into effect by mid-June. 

First proposed in 2013, the hold-up is attributed to a lack of agreement over wholesale charges between networks. Representatives from the EU’s 28 member states have now agreed on the...

1 February 2017 | Consumers

EUs abolishment of roaming fees isnt without T&Cs

(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/petrenkod)

Anyone who's been stung with an extortionate bill after using their mobile device abroad will have welcomed the EU's pledge last year to abolish roaming fees across the continent, but those who regularly travel for extended periods should hold off the celebrations. 

The fair use policy of the free roaming initiative due to launch in June 2017 has...

6 September 2016 | Consumers