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O2 Travel £2 data deal in time for new Euro roaming rules

O2 Travel is a new tariff for holidaymakers and travellers costing £2 per day, revealed mere days after new EU rules on data roaming.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
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Richard Trenholm
2 min read

Just days after the EU passed new rules limiting the cost of data roaming, the first price cuts have touched down. O2 Travel is a new tariff for holidaymakers and travellers costing just £2 per day.

O2 Travel is a bolt-on, O2's name for an extra allowance that you buy on top of your existing contract. When you jet off on your holibobs, you can get 25MB of data for £2 a day.

If you chew through that 25MB, just pay another two quid and get another 25MB. Phone calls will come out of your contract minutes, but will cost you a flat fee of 50p per call.

The good news if you're a pay as you go customer is that you'll be able to take advantage of the deal too. O2 previously charged PAYG customers an eye-watering £3 per megabyte.

The European Parliament ruled last week to limit the cost of data to people travelling Europe. The new limits kick in this summer, with the maximum limit decreasing each year after that. O2 says that the new plan is not a direct response to the new rules, even though it's introduced on the same day as the new laws.

On 1 July the cost of web surfing while you're abroad will be capped at 56p per megabyte. Prices will then to 36p next year and 16p in 2014. And in two years you'll be able to choose a roaming deal from any operator, instead of being lumped with the roaming charges of the network you use at home.

Call charges will also drop, to 25p from 28p this year, and to 19p over the next couple of years. And there's a £40 maximum cap to the total your network can charge you when you get home, curbing the phone companies from scorching you with a massive bill to go along with your sunburn.

Vodafone, Three, T-Mobile and Orange and the other networks are yet to reveal changes to their international prices.

Is O2 Travel a decent deal, or just the first step in this journey? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.