News

The European Parliament has voted in favor of capping the charges for mobile roaming in the 27-member European Union. Pending approval of EU leaders in June, the policy is part of the EU roaming regulation to come into effect on July 1. The price for one megabyte of data will cost no more than EUR 0.70 as of July 1, EUR 0.45 in 2013 and EUR 0.20 as of July 1, 2014. The charges for calls and SMS will also be reduced, so that making a call won’t exceed EUR 0.29 per minute as of July 1 and EUR 0.19 as of July 2014, down from EUR 0.35 under current legislation. The price for receiving a call will be capped at EUR 0.08 per minute and EUR 0.09 for sending an SMS.



People traveling outside Europe will also receive a warning message when they are nearing 50 MB of data transfer to avoid bill shocks. The new policy also aims to bring about greater competition among mobile roaming providers, allowing travellers to change their operator when they go abroad. It is estimated that the policy changes will save a businessperson travelling in Europe over EUR 1,000 per year.