Brussels cuts mobile phone roaming rates for everyone

Brussels cuts mobile phone roaming rates for everyone

Using a mobile phone in Europe will be cheaper for British holidaymakers after the European commission introduced strict caps on roaming charges.

Under the Eurotariff the highest permitted charges will be 49 cents, or 38p, a minute for outgoing calls while travelling elsewhere in the EU and 24 cents, or 19p, a minute for receiving calls - cutting costs for some users by more than 50%.

After a year the maximum rates will be cut further, to 43 cents and 19 cents, for two years. The rates do not apply to text messaging, or using a mobile phone to access the internet. But the commission said if operators did not reduce these charges of their own accord, the politicians would step in.

Viviane Reding, the EU telecoms commissioner, said: "We hope we've now seen the last of excessive roaming charges.

"The commission will, however, continue to monitor prices, in particular for SMS and data roaming, to make sure consumers do not suffer in other ways and to ensure after three years there is no longer a need to regulate."

The high cost of using a mobile abroad, which has been up to 80p a minute for outgoing calls, has been criticised. A survey by the website SimplySwitch.com found that more than three-quarters of British mobile owners did not know how much they were charged for making or receiving calls abroad.

Most operators offer call charges that stick close to the Eurotariff, but the 3 network offers a rate of 25p a minute to make a call.....continued below

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and 10p to receive calls. On O2 the charges will be 35p and 18p.

Karen Darby, of SimplySwitch, said: "The caps are good news if you're travelling on the continent but obviously they only go as far as that.

"They don't help people if they go outside the EU. And it's a reduction but prices for using a mobile in Europe are still prohibitive."

The big operators campaigned against the caps, warning that they could lead to a slowdown in domestic price decreases.

"It would be better for roaming prices to be determined by competition and market rather than by regulation," a spokesman for the operators' GSM Association said.

"The result is you get one price across Europe with most of the operators offering prices roughly around the cap. We think ultimately this is bad for competition and innovation."

The Eurotariff was introduced earlier in the summer but until now customers had to respond to an offer from their operator to take advantage of it. As of yesterday it will be applied to everyone automatically.

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