DRAFT TRADE (MOBILE ROAMING) REGULATIONS 2023

John Nicolson Excerpts

Tuesday 21st February 2023 General Committees

[John Nicolson (Ochil and South Perthshire) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir George.

The new free trade deal with Iceland and Norway includes a commitment to co-operating on mobile phone roaming charges. The legislation just sets the maximum wholesale charges that UK-based firms can charge Norwegian and Icelandic firms for using their services here, in exchange for the same roaming there. [Interruption.]

[The Chair]

Order.

[John Nicolson]

That does not guarantee that retail rates will be free or low to roam, but it opens up the possibility. It is very small in scope compared to the former free roaming in the entirety of the EU that we once enjoyed, which the EU has extended to all member states for another decade.

Before the tremendous folly of Brexit, we had free roaming in all 27 member states—frictionless, borderless, open communications. Years later, with many suppliers charging big fees for using our phones abroad, we are presented with this global Britain legislation that will perhaps prevent us from getting ripped off when we travel to Norway and Iceland. So much, so little; what a metaphor for the sorry mess of Brexit surely.

I am tremendously in favour of Scotland having close relationships with our Nordic neighbours, but we should be more ambitious than this. I do not doubt that diligent civil servants have done their very best behind the scenes to bring the legislation to fruition, but it is a shame surely that they had to expend their energy and devote their time to securing something significantly less good than what came before.

[Julia Lopez]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his extremely uplifting contribution to the debate.

[John Nicolson]

You can always rely on me.

[Julia Lopez]

I know. I have covered some of the questions in relation to wholesale and retail charging, but I appreciate the concerns that have been raised about that. It is on the face of the free trade agreement that the intention of the legislation is to reduce prices for consumers, and I hope that will give a level of reassurance in that regard.

As I have said, we are trying to get a light-touch regulatory approach. We think it is in the interests of mobile network operators to pass those savings on to consumers, but we will consider intervening if that is not the case. Ofcom is also doing a bit of work on data roaming, which relates to one of the points raised by the hon. Member for Pontypridd, in relation to transparency of charging.

I hope the regulations will be entirely welcomed and I commend them to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.