The European Union's new data roaming regulations are officially in effect, which means it's now quite a bit cheaper to use your phone while traveling around the EU. The new regulations will see the cost of data roaming drop by up to 91 percent compared to 2007 but the regulations will result in reductions across calls, SMS and data.
New caps will see a 36 percent reduction in data charges compared to 2012. The price cap for data is now 45c per MB plus VAT. Calls out are capped at 24c per minute plus VAT, while charges for incoming calls are capped at 7c per minute plus vat. The cap for sending texts is now 8c plus VAT. These charges will drop even further next year. Come July 1, 2014, data will be capped at 20c per MB, calls out will be capped at 19c, calls in will be capped at 5c and text messages will be capped at 6c.
"The EU has to be relevant to people’s lives. The latest price cuts put more money in your pocket for summer, and are a critical step towards getting rid of these premiums once and for all," said Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes. "This is good for both consumers and companies, because it takes fear out of the market, and it grows the market."
The EU reminds us that though these are the caps for roaming charges, operators can offer customers cheaper rates than the caps listed above.
