Using your phone abroad is about to get a lot cheaper. Roaming data, call and text message costs on the continent will be slashed from July: the European Parliament has just voted to bring in caps for mobile charges abroad. How much could you save? An absolute ton!
You might have been hit by a hefty phone bill after using your mobile abroad, but those roaming data charges are set to come right down inside the European Union. Those chaps over at Strasbourg have just voted to enforce the price caps proposed by the European Commission, and they start on July 1.
Networks will no longer be able to charge more than €0.35 (31p) per minute to make calls abroad, and will have to charge by the second. SMS charges will be capped at €0.11 (10p), but best of all, those extortionate roaming data costs are coming down to €1 (88p) per MB, dropping to €0.50 (44p) by 2011. That’s a huge saving. Some mobile networks currently charge £3 per megabyte while abroad.
These new roaming prices are still higher than domestic rates of course. Downloading a movie abroad will still bring you a huge bill, and the limits only apply within the EU, but it’s good to know you’ll be able to keep in touch by talk, text and e-mail for much less on your travels from July 1.
Out TBC | £TBC | EU
