Cap on phone roaming charges to take effect

Long-suffering mobile phone users have finally caught a break as an EU- wide cap on roaming charges comes into effect from next month.

Though the first EU roaming regulation emerged in 2007, sky-high prices when abroad have been a headache for travellers for years.

Over-charging has been rife and in a survey carried out last year, 72% of trav ellers said they limit their roaming calls as a result and only 19% believed data roaming prices to be fair.

Under the new measures the maximum charges that apply to consumers when roaming in the EU are:

* Voice calls made — maximum charge of 35.67 cent per minute (reduced from 43.05 cent);

* Voice calls received — maximum charge of 9.84 cent per minute (reduced from 13.53 cent);

* SMS — maximum charge of 11.07 cent per SMS sent (reduced from 13.53 cent). To receive an SMS is free;

* New data price cap — a maximum charge of 86.10 cent per megabyte (MB) of data;

* No charge to receive a voicemail message.

A number of transparency measures also apply.

For example, when a consumer travels in the EU they must receive an SMS from their mobile operator advising them of the costs of roaming in the EU. This includes the cost of calls made and received, the cost of sending an SMS /MMS and the cost per megabyte of data.

The message will also provide a freephone number to contact the operator when roaming and details of the European emergency number, 112.

A consumer who data roams is automatically opted into a data cap/alert of €60.50 (including VAT) unless they have requested not to receive the usage alert. A consumer will be advised when they reach 80% of the data usage cap and at 100% of the data usage cap. When they reach the cap, the consumer must consent in order to continue to be allowed to data roam.

Director general of the European Consumer Organisation Monique Goyens said the roaming cap was a significant victory for consumers.

“We have been fighting the corner for fairer roaming costs for years.

“This is the latest battle won, but there is a way to go yet on pricing, encouraging networks not to cluster costs around the caps and prompting competition within Europe’s stunted telecoms market.

“Internet use while roaming remains much too expensive — even after these new limits, downloading one gigabyte while across a border can cost a staggering €700,” she said.