July 2010
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On the 1st July 2010 a new era of roaming charges dawned for European mobile phone users. The EU has capped call costs and internet usage whilst roaming around Europe. For anyone that has returned home from a European holiday, only to find a massive bill waiting for them, this will be welcome news. The situation over the last few years has been disorganised at best and, at worst, has sometimes seemed deliberately opaque.
The ruling from Europe, which has been set for this July since last year, has limited the maximum costs for making and receiving calls whilst abroad. It has also imposed a maximum monthly amount at which your network provider must disconnect you from being able to connect to the internet. This has nominally been set at 50 euros (currently around £41). The ruling also makes it a responsibility on the part of your provider to let you know when you have reached 80% of this amount. There is also a provision for users to raise or lower this limit if they wish to.
The business development manager, Simon Piper, at Mobilechoices.co.uk, said: “These new rules add transparency to a previously complex charging system and put consumers in the driving seat. For the first time, they know how much their phone will cost them while abroad.”
The limitations of the previous year’s caps have been removed and now all costs associated with using a mobile phone abroad have been defined in terms of maximum amounts that anyone can be charged. Calling your voicemail is now free to all and making a call will not cost you more than 39 eurocents and picking up a call from home, something many of us have never done due to the high cost, will now be limited to 15 eurocents. The receiving of a text message is to continue to be free and the sending of one will be capped to 11 eurocents.
This marks the end of moves started in 2006 to limit the unfair charges levied on holiday makers all over Europe. The process has been drawn out over several years with consultations and proposals, but thankfully for all consumers the end is here and we now all know where we stand with our European roaming charges.
About Mobilechoices.co.uk
Mobilechoices.co.uk is an independent comparison site where mobile phone users can compare everything from a Sony Ericsson Satio to a Nokia 7230. They can access many impartial reviews from a Motorola Milestone review to a Sony Ericsson Elm review. As well as view videos relating to the choosing the right mobile phone for you.