The UK Mobile Phone Blog

EU slash roaming charges!

Ever been on holiday, used your phone and then dreaded the bill that would be waiting for you when you got home? Well, you’re not alone. Whilst tariffs in the UK continually improve for the customer, using your phone abroad seemed to be a feeble excuse for networks to charge you exorbitant amounts just for a quick phone call. And as is the case with many of lifes little annoyances, we just accepted this as the way it is. Well not anymore! The EU have, with immediate effect, dramatically changed the way calls, texts and internet usage are charged.

Key Changes:
• Sending a text abroad will cost a maximum of €0.11
• Making a call in any EU country must cost no more than €0.43 per minute
• Receiving a call in any EU country must cost no more than €0.19 per minute
• Outgoing calls made in any EU country must be charged per second after the first 30 seconds
• Incoming calls made in any EU country must be charged per second from the start of the call
• Downloading data will be capped at €1 per megabyte

Further reductions will follow on July 1st 2010:
• Making a call in any EU country must cost no more than €0.39 per minute
• Receiving a call in any EU country must cost no more than €0.15 per minute
• Downloading data will be capped at €0.80 per megabyte (falling to €0.50 from July 1st 2011)

These new roaming charges are set to apply until 2012 at which point there will be the option to propose further rules if competition has not seen further natural reductions. So the the outlook is pretty good for frequent fliers and holiday makers. Whether this will have a negative impact on roaming charges outside of the UK remains to be seen but for now let’s just enjoy the good news.