EE's biggest shake-up in years has brought back free EU roaming and ditched 5G download limits

Following the UK's departure from the European Union, which outlawed the practice of charging users to make calls, send texts, or access mobile internet in different EU countries, EE reintroduced these unpopular charges.

Anyone who renegotiated their contract with EE, or signed-up for a new plan from July 7, 2021 is charged an extra fee to use their smartphone in Europe.If you're holidaying in France, you'll need to spend £2.47 a day to access the allowances of your SIM plan like you would at home, for example.

EE offers an add-on, known as the Roam Abroad Pass, which costs £25 a month and adds the ability to use your calls, text messages, and 5G mobile data in 47 European destinations, as well as the United States, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia.

There's no minimum contract term, so you can add the Roam Abroad Pass to your account at any time, and then remove the £25 fee when you're back from your travels and no longer it.

• View Deal | Upgrade to EE's new 5G network for EU roaming and unlimited data
• View Deal | EE broadband users unlock £20 off mobile plans every month

With all new EE 5G plans including this much-missed perk as standard, it marks the first time since mid-2021 that EE customers won't need to worry about finding extra charges in their mobile bills when they return to the UK after a business trip or holiday abroad.

Prices for SIM-only plans compatible with the next-generation 5GSA standard start from £42 per month.

For that, you'll get the Unlimited All-Rounder bundle, which comes with unlimited mobile data allowance — so you'll never need to worry about running out of 5G data when streaming video, games, or songs on-the-move, smartwatch data inclusive (something that usually costs an extra £7 every month), EU roaming at no extra cost — something that EE ditched from all of its new SIM-only plans three years ago, and one Inclusive Extra.

These perks include the likes of a Netflix subscription or Google One. If you're already with EE for your home broadband, including its record-breaking new Wi-Fi 7 packages, you'll unlock £20 off bills every month.

For now, the newly-launched end-to-end 5G network from EE will be limited to fifteen major UK cities. According to the popular network, using its 5G standalone network will ensure faster download speeds, better coverage indoors, and improve the battery life on your smartphone and tablet.

As it stands, EE customers' devices bounce between 5G and 4G, depending on the coverage. As the name suggests, EE 5GSA is a completely separate network that uses the latest 5G wireless standard end-to-end.

It's the consistency of this new connection that will improve battery life, since there's no need for your smartphone to switch between 4G and 5G networks in the background throughout the day. By removing older 4G architecture entirely from the EE 5GSA network, you'll be able to expect better consistency in mobile download speeds as you from outdoors to indoors.

Speaking at the event earlier this week, EE CEO Marc Allera revealed that, over time, the new end-to-end 5G network would start to get more “intelligent” and be able to adapt automatically to how it was being used.

"It’s starting to get really intelligent, so it knows when you’re using AI tools so the network can adapt its connection to when you’re using AI or when you’re gaming — that’s the next generation," he said. "We call it a service-aware network. Rather than just giving you access to data, its now knowing and understanding what you’re using it for, and how can it adapt and give you that tailored experience."

EE is starting with 15 cities nationwide, which are home to around 18 million people, with more to follow in the coming months.

If you want to connect to this next-generation 5GSA network, you'll need to be based in...

• Bath
• Belfast
• Birmingham
• Bradford
• Bristol
• Cardiff
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Hull
• Leeds
• Leicester
• Liverpool
• London
• Manchester
• Sheffield

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EE isn't the only UK mobile network to offer this end-to-end 5G standard data. Vodafone was the first to roll-out this next-generation 5G, starting with London, Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff, last summer. Unlike EE, Vodafone has decided not to charge extra for the upgrades, although you will still need to ensure you have a compatible 5GSA smartphone in your pocket.

Virgin Media O2 clinched the silver medal when it launched 5GSA across 14 cities back in February. It's now accessible in 304 towns and cities nationwide and bundled to customers at no extra cost. Three hasn't announced any plans for its end-to-end 5G upgrade.

• View Deal | Upgrade to EE's new 5G network for EU roaming and unlimited data
• View Deal | EE broadband users unlock £20 off mobile plans every month

As always, we'll need to pit these rival networks against one another to see whether there's a difference in speeds, stability, coverage indoors and outdoors, battery life improvements, and other perks. And if so, whether it's worth switching to a rival mobile operator.