Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to abolish roaming charges for mobile phone users (a) travelling to and (b) unintentionally connecting to a network based in the Republic of Ireland.

During negotiations on the EU Connected Continent package, the UK has consistently pushed for more and faster reductions to roaming charges, leading as soon as possible to their abolition. The Government believes that roaming charges have no place in a digital single market and the Minister for Culture, Communications & Creative Industries reiterated at the Telecoms Council meeting on Friday 12 June that this should be the last summer when the average consumer pays roaming charges.

Ofcom in Northern Ireland has taken an active interest in inadvertent roaming, particularly in border areas and along the north Antrim coast. A consumer guide to Inadvertent Roaming, published in January 2014. See: http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/phone/mobile-phones/mobiles-abroad/inadvertentent-roaming-northern-ireland/