In June of this year all intra-Europe cell phone roaming charges (talk and data) were supposed to disappear. (In fact, they were supposed to disappear in 2015, if I'm not mistaken, but the change was postponed.) This is very convenient for tourists who want to visit several countries in Europe. It means they can buy a SIM card in one country and use it everywhere with no surcharges.

However, now the Berec, the European agency that oversees telecommunications, has introduced some loopholes that would allow operators who can show that they would suffer economic damage to continue to charge for roaming for another year.

Most cell phone providers already have very low surcharges for voice roaming, but data roaming is still costly in many cases. Until June 2018, then, if you'll be visiting more than one European country and want to have a local SIM card, you'll have to seek out a provider who's already on board with the new system. There will still be some limits to the roaming-fee-free policy. If you buy a SIM card in one country, but over four months' time you're mostly using it in a different country, you can be charged roaming fees. This is to prevent people shopping around for the country with the lowest cell phone tariffs. There is also a limit on how much data you can use abroad, proportionally to the total amount included in your contract.

Even when roaming charges have disappeared for good, you will still have to buy credit from the provider of the SIM card, and, so far, most providers make it very difficult for tourists to top up their credit in a foreign country. For example, you usually need an Italian credit card to top up an Italian SIM card online. In these cases, you need to make sure you have enough credit to see you through the rest of the trip before you leave the country where you bought the SIM card.

Some providers also have a fair use policy - limiting the amount of time you can use data abroad before they throttle it or charge for it.
I don't have a problem with the rules, since it is primarily aimed at Europeans visiting other countries within Europe on holiday, or for short periods of work.
Most prepaid services require a European credit card to top up your phone on the internet, though Vodafone seem to accept non European cards. Some accept PayPal too.
Safest is to buy vouchers in the country the SIM was issued in and use those to top up while in other countries.

bvlenci and hetismij2, thanks for your comments.

I was hoping that the new regulations supposedly eliminating roaming charges in the EU would solve my problem for a trip moving from France to Italy to the UK in the fall, but it appears from what you say that it might not be so easy.

If I buy a SIM card and a month's worth of time in France from Orange for example, how would I know if I would be charged roaming fees in the other countries?

Do you know which providers are complying with the "no roaming charges" system currently?

I have recently been through Belgium and France to the UK and used roaming the whole tie No extra charges on my phone.
Quite seamless.

Because of competition pressures many companies have scrapped the fair use clause. Your card from Orange will provide you with however much you have purchased regardless of the country you are in.
DO note that calls from the home country of the SIM to another country are charged at a higher rate. So if I hone the UK fro the Netherlands I pay a higher rate than if I call the UK (or the Netherlands) from France.

Thanks, hetismij2!

Since you're an EU resident you probably aren't familiar with short-term contracts for travelers. I wonder if anyone out there has recommendations for the best of these plans for a monthlong contract?

Vodaphone seems to have a one month Essentials Plan with 1GB and 1000 minutes for £17, which sounds fine, although I wonder if it is available to non EU residents.

In the past I was only able to buy Orange or TIM or Vodaphone short term SIM plans meant for tourists.

I can't help there, shellio, but I can't help remarking that it's typical of us that just as roaming charges disappear within the EU [in theory at least] we are spending our next holiday in Switzerland, where I am assuming this won't apply!

Certainly the Vodaphone Pre Paid is available to no residents in the Netherlands.
In some countries you will have to provide ID to buy it, but I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to as a foreigner. The only problem may be topping it up if you need to. Not all providers accept foreign Credit cards for online top ups, and if you are out of country that would be the only way to top up.

Annhig, I will actually be transiting Switzerland but if all goes well not for long enough to need to use a phone! After France we head back to Venice again, seems we can't stay away for long.

Hetismij2, thanks. If I order a UK Vodaphone card I should not need to top it up until I get to the UK at the end of my month on "the Continent", so that shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for your helpful comments.

For anyone following this, my attempt to buy the Vodaphone Essentials plan noted above from the US was unsuccessful as it can only be obtained in the UK or by someone with a UK address and bank account.

Looks like I will have to wait until arrival in France (my first stop) to buy a SIM card.

For annhig,

I live in Germany, so I'm not sure if this will apply to visitors ...

But I just updated my contract with T-Mobile, and Switzerland is included in the free-data-roaming area. Hoping it is for the sim you decide to use. (Aren't UK sims valid on the Continent?)

s

(Aren't UK sims valid on the Continent?) They sure are.

Much as a love the EU (a remainer) it is typical that they can't even do a simple thing like this simply. Yet more grist for the Daily Mail.

I am SO glad I have T-Mobile and get free texting and data everywhere when I'm over there.

But I just updated my contract with T-Mobile, and Switzerland is included in the free-data-roaming area. Hoping it is for the sim you decide to use. (Aren't UK sims valid on the Continent?)>>

Yes, the idea is that you don't need a new sim but continue to use your own. I had not appreciated that Switzerland was included within the new rules so that's good news - thanks.

The roaming rules don't apply to tourists. They're intended to allow people to use their home SIM when abroad. Obviously non EU tourists buying a local SIM aren't using their home SIM.

Wait until people understand this means higher over all rates for everybody.

Shellio

Take a look at threeuk and o2 . I was able to get a threeuk sim here in the us for $2 and top it up with a us credit card using mobiletopup.co.UK. Threeuk roams in 60 counties free for data, but you need to pay attention to what the minutes are charged at where you want to call. We used it in France, Netherlands and UK and it works all over western Europe.

rs899, where did you buy your threeuk SIM in the US? I forget.

For everyone else's benefit: I bought my Dutch Vodafone SIM on eBay for $7 before leaving the US, added 20 Euros online on their website with my US credit card, and got 3GB of data for a month for 20 Euros. I needed it for data not calling or texting. It worked great for me in France, Italy, and Slovenia in May, and I hope to use the same SIM again next time - it's supposed to remain active for a year since last credit. It's surely not as good of a deal as the UK SIMs, for the amount of data you get, but hotspot worked automatically without a rooted phone, and I used that a lot. And I only used 2GB of my 3GB of data anyway, over 17 days.

In any case, there are still good options for US travelers trying to use their phones on a budget in Europe. T-Mobile and Sprint both have good international roaming plans that makes things easy, but for me personally, they are still too expensive for what I need for my monthly US phone service. It's not worth the extra cost per year just to have international roaming - buying a local SIM for a single trip per year saves me a lot.

I got my ThreeUK SIM from an ebay seller in the UK for about $2. I got it about 10 days from when I ordered it. There may be some ThreeUK SIMs on ebay that you can buy that are already loaded (to save the top-up hassle of not having a UK Credit Card). The ThreeUK plan I got had 12GB of data and cost 20 GBP. They also had a 1GB plan that cost 10GBP. I think o2 has one that is 2GB and is somewhere in between in cost IIRC. Beware on the ThreeUK SIM- you can't legally use it as a wifi hotspot (but with a rooted phone you can get around it).

Thanks rs899, I may do a quick search on eBay but frankly it seems easier to just go into a local store when I arrive.

I see that you are starting in France. The locals can confirm this but my reading indicates France has some sort of security delay starting service (?).
I was able to get everything done and the phone roaming in the us and had one less thing to worry about. But your call...

FYI, in Dungeons & Dragons a chimera is a nasty three-headed monster (head of a lion, goat, and dragon) which flies and hunts large mammals. Hope this helps.