Remember data roaming charges? They were one of the worst things about the noughties. You couldn’t step outside of the UK with your Nokia 360 poised to text your best friends without facing astronomical bills. Forget fledgling romances - they had to go on hold because guaranteed your parents banned you from using your phone abroad after that one that a £150 bill mysteriously racked itself up from a couple of phone calls and a playing bit of snake while you were in Normandy.
But a no deal Brexit could see us ricochet back to these times: A report by the Huffington Post revealed that a no deal could mean an ‘immediate return’ to charges as companies like Vodaphone refuse to rule out re-instating roaming charges in the event of a no deal Brexit. According to the Huffington Post the regulation was presented before parliament on Tuesday and confirms it will revoke the scrapping of charges for data roaming in the EU which originally happened in 2017 (come back '17 - all is forgiven!).
The reason for the increase is that UK phone firms would face increased costs from EU carriers following Brexit. The draft states that in the event of a no deal 'it will not be possible to impose a limit on the wholesale charges faced by UK operators when their customers use networks owned by EU operators'. Shadow Brexit minister Jenny Chapman said of return to data roaming charges: 'The Prime Minister has repeatedly refused to rule out no deal. And yet these proposals prove that it will be holidaymakers and businesses that are forced to pay the price for this government’s incompetence.'
Along with the effect that the Brexit vote had on the value of the pound against the euro, this is one in a list of things which make it really expensive to attempt to travel in the EU. But don't panic just yet, there are at least some rules in place to ensure that you wouldn’t manage to rack up enormous roaming bills. Regulations would require phone companies to tell you when you've reached 80% and 100% of your data allowance. Once you'd incurred a £45 charge, you also wouldn't be able to use any more data until you'd actively chosen to do so.
Still, considering we're such a data-happy generation (in 2019 the whole point of going on holiday has almost become synonymous with the need for material for the 'gram) the idea that data charges could revoke holiday-bragging rights is likely to not sit well with some. Britain is due to leave the European Union on the 29th of March 2019.