Roaming charges to be capped
29th March 2012
Travellers heading to Europe this summer won't have to worry about roaming charges, after the EU enforce cuts in time for the holidays
From 1 July 2012, the European Commission will enforce a cap on roaming rates. Mobile phone users can expect to pay no more than 24p a minute to make a call, 8p to send a text, or 59p to download a megabyte of data.
The cuts are a part of an ongoing scheme developed by the commission to reduce the difference between the rates of roaming and domestic calls to zero by 2015. This low roaming rate is guaranteed to last until at least 2017.
The vice president for the EU's Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes welcomed the reductions: “Consumers are fed up with being ripped off by high roaming charges. The new roaming deal gives us a long-term structural solution, with lower prices, more choice and a new smart approach for data and internet browsing.”
By 2014, budget-conscious travellers will be able to sign up to a separate roaming contract without changing their mobile number. This means than people will be able to shop around for the best roaming contract.
Maximum call charges were first imposed five years ago to tackle what the commission called a 'roaming rip-off'. Mobile networks were accused of 'raking in' the profits by charging travellers up to five times the domestic rate.
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