Ukraine and Moldova Are Inside EU Roam Like at Home in 2026 - and the Wholesale Cap Just Fell to EUR 1.10/GB

On 1 January 2026, the European Union's "Roam Like at Home" area got two new members: Ukraine and Moldova. The Council approved Ukraine's accession on 15 July 2025 and Moldova's on 25 July 2025, and the change took effect with the new year.

In practice: EU citizens travelling to Kyiv or Chisinau now use calls, texts and mobile data at domestic rates, inside their existing plan allowance. Ukrainian and Moldovan subscribers travelling into the EU get the same treatment in reverse.

The second change nobody mentions

Alongside the geographic expansion, the wholesale roaming cap fell to EUR 1.10 per gigabyte on the same date. That is the maximum one operator can charge another for carrying your data abroad. It has been on a scheduled decline for years - EUR 2.00 in 2022, 1.80 in 2023, 1.55 in 2024, 1.30 in 2025, 1.10 in 2026, and EUR 1.00 from 2027 onwards.

You never see this number on a bill, but it is the floor under every European roaming offer. It is also the reason travel eSIM pricing for Europe has been drifting down: the underlying cost of a gigabyte inside the bloc keeps shrinking, and providers price against it.

What the zone actually covers

Roam Like at Home now spans the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway - and, since January, Ukraine and Moldova. Surcharge-free roaming is guaranteed until 30 June 2032 under Regulation (EU) 2022/612.

Two things it does not do:

It does not cover you if your SIM is from outside the zone. A traveler arriving in Lisbon on a US, Canadian, Brazilian, Australian or Argentine plan is not in Roam Like at Home. They are on their home carrier's international roaming rates, which routinely run USD 10-12 per day. Our day pass breakdown has the arithmetic for a two-week trip.

It is not a substitute for a local plan. The fair use policy exists precisely to prevent permanent roaming. If you spend more time and data in another member state than at home over a rolling period, your operator can contact you and eventually apply a surcharge. It is designed for travel, not relocation.

Why this matters for the eSIM market

Free roaming visibly suppresses travel eSIM demand. Holafly's 2026 summer data shows European travelers activating a travel eSIM only 19.9% of the time inside the EU, versus 44.8% the moment they cross out of it. Adding Ukraine and Moldova to the zone extends that suppressed band - and simultaneously makes both countries far easier to visit on a European plan.

For everyone else, the map is unchanged. If your home network is not inside the zone, entering it does not help you. A traveler flying into Warsaw from São Paulo faces exactly the same decision they faced in 2025: pay the carrier's roaming rate, hunt for a local SIM at the airport, or install a travel eSIM before departure. Providers including HOLASIM, Airalo, Holafly, Saily and Nomad all compete in that space, and the falling wholesale cap is quietly working in the buyer's favour.

Practical checklist

• Are you on an EU/EEA, Ukrainian or Moldovan plan? Travelling within the zone, you are covered. Do nothing.
• Travelling outside the zone on an EU plan? Roam Like at Home stops at the border. Price your options before you go.
• Arriving in Europe on a non-European plan? You are not covered at all. Compare your carrier's per-day rate against a regional eSIM - our regional eSIM comparison covers multi-country trips specifically.
• Going to Ukraine or Moldova? Check that your specific operator has implemented the change; the regulation obliges it, but rollouts and network partners vary. Verify before you rely on it.
• Either way, install before you fly. eSIM provisioning needs a working data connection.

The bigger picture

The 2026 change is a small geographic expansion with a large symbolic weight: two candidate countries were folded into the single market's most consumer-visible benefit years before formal accession. For travelers, the takeaway is narrower and more useful - the free-roaming map grew by two countries, the price floor dropped again, and everyone whose SIM lives outside that map still needs to do their own homework.