EU Reduces Roaming Charges for European Union

By Jane McEntegart
published

Where ever you wander, where ever you roam...

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.

Jane McEntegart
9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • paul_durham
    It was about time ! Especially helpful for consuming data, texts and calls are already (sort of) cheap.
    Reply
  • synthaside
    Having just come back from a week touring around Europe im still disgusted by the concept of "roaming" , while its good the Eu are capping it If im paying
    o2 or vodaphone a monthly fee , O2.BE or vodaphone.de ( belguim / german devisions of the company) shouldn't really count as roaming they are the same god damn company . If you look at the new price's the networks are setting there pretty much all charging the max .... "because they can"

    Vodaphone are a little less evil about it allowing you to use your domestic minutes for a £3 PER DAY surcharge which if your a medium user is probably worthwhile but that also shows they are obviously the same organisation just ripping you off , we live in a multicultural Europe where i can drive from the UK to Germany in five hours its not really roaming anymore.
    Reply
  • chicofehr
    Unlocked phone + local sim card + calling cards to call outside of local country = fixed :)
    People who pay roaming are usually the ones who have too much money like business people who who need to use same number for their clients to be able to contact them or those who don't research the costs before using their sim in a foreign country.
    Reply
  • __-_-_-__
    I've unlimited calls for 30€. internet is the issue. 45c/MB -.- lol. where are we? 1990?
    Reply
  • house70
    Forgot a "small detail": the price caps are only for EU member countries. If coming from anywhere else the old roaming charges will still apply (or whatever charges your operator has agreed upon with their EU partners).
    Reply
  • cats_Paw
    Makes sense... I hope they can now do something that really matters, like... i dont know, one universal language, less burocracy, lower taxes and ... oh sorry, i forgot those are just dreams.
    Reply
  • alidan
    pro tip: texting is data, 1mb of text is enough to cover a whole novel, but they would charge you upwards a grand if you sent that many texts... price gouging HOOOOOO
    Reply
  • dutchling
    Why do I still live in Canada?
    Reply
  • wydileie
    11078054 said:
    pro tip: texting is data, 1mb of text is enough to cover a whole novel, but they would charge you upwards a grand if you sent that many texts... price gouging HOOOOOO

    pro tip: It really isn't, at least in the way you are inferring. SMS/MMS have their own protocols and the way your phone company sends it to your phone isn't via the same way it sends "data" to your phone. Strictly speaking, you are correct, because a phone call, Internet usage, or MMS/SMS are all "data", but you are wrong in suggesting that sending an SMS is the same as going to TomsHardware on your phone's web browser.

    That being said, you are correct that they are massively overcharging for their services. Phone companies love SMS because it puts an extremely small load on their systems and they can charge you a ton of money for it.
    Reply