Juniper Research Rank iD Mobile as Top UK Operator for Roaming

Telecoms analyst firm Juniper Research has used an April 2024 survey of 3,300 UK mobile subscribers to identify that iD Mobile ranks top as the “leading network operator in the UK for subscriber roaming satisfaction in 2024“, which saw them achieve a net promoter score of 77%.

The survey claims that 85% of iD Mobile subscribers reported a positive experience when managing their mobile subscription whilst abroad. Since the UK left the European Union (EU), subscribers no longer qualify for the free roaming initiative (Roam Like At Home), which has resulted in a fair bit of variation among roaming offerings and charges.

However, the study claims that iD Mobile “offers the most free roaming data across the EU” in its standard roaming packages (i.e. a fair usage cap of 30 GigaBytes for mobile broadband), and thus its subscribers have not yet been all that negatively impacted by the recent return to roaming charges – as adopted by many other operators. A few others, like O2, also offer inclusive data roaming, but apply different limits (e.g. O2 limits you to 25GB).

Best Five UK Mobile Operators for Subscriber Roaming Experience
1. iD Mobile – 77%
2. O2 (Virgin Media) – 75%
3. Tesco Mobile – 74%
4. giffgaff – 73%
5. Vodafone – 68%

Notably, the survey also claims to have found that 5G connectivity was the “least in-demand element of roaming packages“, indicating subscribers find roaming over 4G networks sufficient for their needs when travelling. But the full details are locked behind a paid survey report and weren’t included in Juniper’s press summary.

Report author, Elisha Sudlow-Poole, said: “To compete effectively with iD Mobile, mobile operators must not only look to reinstate free EU roaming for mobile subscribers, but also seek to improve consumer education around roaming options, by offering user-friendly tools like pre-travel notifications and roaming cost calculators to avoid customer confusion.”

At this point it may be worth noting that Ofcom recently finalised new rules that will require mobile network operators to protect UK consumers who travel abroad from mobile BILL SHOCKS on data (broadband), call and text charges (here).