Wave goodbye to mobile internet rip-offs from 1 July
A new EU regulation means that, for the first time, there is a maximum charge for “data roaming” – downloading data from the internet when using a mobile connection.
The data roaming rules will mean savings of over €1000 per year for a typical businessperson travelling in the EU. A family taking an annual holiday in another EU country can expect to save at least €200.
The new rules will also cut the maximum prices for voice calls and texts. Overall, the improved EU roaming regulation – taking into account calls, text messages and data – will deliver consumers savings of 75% across a range of mobile roaming services, compared to 2007 prices.
This year, Europeans will spend around €5 billion on roaming services, a saving of around €15 billion compared to prices before the first EU roaming regulation became law in 2007.
Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said: “Price caps on data mean we have roaming for the smart phone generation. This ends the roaming rip-offs once and for all in the EU. I am delighted that year after year the European Union is putting money back in the pockets of citizens.”
Source: enterpriseeuropeni.com
