Tesco Mobile, the UK mobile provider operating as an MVNO on O2’s network, has officially extended and expanded its “Home From Home” roaming benefit. Customers can now use their UK allowances for calls, texts, and data at no extra cost across 48 EU and adjacent destinations.

In simpler terms: your minutes, texts, and data work abroad just as they do at home — provided you stay within Tesco’s fair usage policy.

Interestingly, this isn’t just a temporary seasonal perk — Tesco has said it has “no plans to bring in EU roaming fees anytime soon.”

After initially extending the freebie until 2026, it has been confirmed it will now last until 2027. Laura Joseph, Chief Customer Officer at Tesco Mobile, said:

“We know how important it is for families to stay connected-whether you’re sharing holiday snaps, checking in with loved ones, or finding your way around a new city.

What “Home From Home” Really Means for You

Under the Home From Home scheme:

• Use your UK call, text, and data allowances in 48 destinations across Europe and beyond, at no extra roaming fees.
• If you exceed your allowance, you’re charged the same standard UK rates for calls, texts, or data.
• Tesco applies a fair usage policy: if a user spends too long abroad (versus being in the UK) or uses excessive data, a surcharge may kick in.
• The benefit is available to both pay-monthly and pay-as-you-go customers.

All that said, there are caveats. Some destinations included aren’t purely EU — and some calls/texts to specific “non-standard” numbers may be excluded.

Why Tesco’s Move Matters

For UK travellers, roaming costs post-Brexit have become a pain point. Many major carriers have pulled back on free EU roaming or reintroduced daily charges. Tesco’s decision to expand and extend its roaming deal is a statement: it wants to position itself as the “safe pair of hands” for customers who travel.

The risk for rivals is that consumers start factoring roaming benefits into their choice of provider. As roaming becomes a battleground, offering transparent, generous roaming perks can be a differentiator.

“This extension to 2026 and its introduction to the Clubcard Price (including both new & mid-contract customers) proposition is a testament to our commitment to providing exceptional value and convenience to our customers.”

Competitors, Comparisons & Market Trends

Tesco’s announcement is timely — it comes while the competitive landscape is in flux:

• Some UK operators (e.g. EE) have recently restructured or removed their roaming passes, replacing them with daily fees.
• Others, like BT Mobile, offer a “Roam Like Home” benefit in ~47 destinations — but generally with tighter fair use terms or data limits.
• MVNOs like GiffGaff, iD Mobile, Smarty, etc., often highlight free EU roaming (with caps) as a selling point.
• Meanwhile, at a regulatory level, the EU (and EEA) continues to legislate roaming fairness — under Regulation (EU) 2022/612, roaming charges are banned within the EEA when usage remains within fair usage limits.

So Tesco’s move isn’t just about generosity — it’s about staying ahead in a competitive and regulatory environment where roaming is an increasingly scrutinised factor.

Conclusion: More Than a Perk — A Strategic Repositioning

Tesco Mobile’s expansion of its free roaming proposition is more than a nicety — it’s strategic. In a UK market where roaming has re-emerged as a battleground, this differentiator helps Tesco:

1. Retain customers who travel (less incentive to defect over roaming costs).
2. Attract new customers seeking certainty in roaming.
3. Build goodwill and loyalty — being seen as a carrier that “cares about travel costs.”
4. Pressure rivals to either match or risk being viewed as stingy in the roaming era.

That said, Tesco’s offer still comes with guardrails (fair usage, exclusions), so it’s not “unlimited everywhere forever.” But as roaming regimes shift, connectivity-savvy users (and travel-heavy customers) will increasingly value such features.

In short: Tesco isn’t just throwing in a nice bonus — it’s staking a claim in the future of travel-oriented mobile plans. The question for rivals is whether they’ll step up — or let Tesco (and nimble MVNOs) own the roaming space.