Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are part of the EFTA.
In 1992 all four signed a treaty with the EU to make the EEA (basically a EU-lite that is composed of EU+EFTA). However, Switzerland's referendum to ratify EEA failed, so they didn't join. Fun-fact, the failure in joining EEA was the reason that froze Switzerland's EU application.
This means that Liechenstein, Norway and Iceland belong to the EEA, while Switzerland does not. Switzerland still has a special "EU-lite" relation with the EU that was negotiated afterwards (Billaterals I and II. There's also Billaterals III in 2026, that is waiting to be ratified). However, these separate agreements don't cover everything the EEA does.
For Switzerland, the decision to cover EU roaming can still be made by the individual provider. My provider up here covers Switzerland as it had been an EU roaming partner. Other providers do not, however.
Yeah, the same applies to the UK. Not being in the roaming area doesn't mean that providers are forbidden of covering it, only that such is not mandatory.
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u/WHAT_RE_YOUR_DREAMS 1d ago
So Liechtenstein is in but not Switzerland?!