The average cost of using a
smartphone in the EU is to be slashed in half under new EU plans to crackdown on high
mobile roaming charges.
The EU is looking to abolish premium charges for data roaming services, and is set to extend caps on
mobile phone call roaming charges for a further four years to 2016.
From July 2012, mobile telecommunications firms will be forced to reduce the amount they charge for surfing the
internet or receiving emails while abroad to a maximum 80p per megabyte year, falling to around 40p by 2014, compared with a current average of around £1.80.
In addition, prices for calls made from
mobiles across Europe will drop to 28p a minute from next July, 25p from July 2013; and 21p from July 2014.
Customers will also be able to switch to other providers for their overseas roaming, leading to greater competition and potentially even lower charges.
The proposals are part of a series of measures by EU telecoms commissioner, Neelie Kroes, to cut down on roaming fees by 2015
Monique Goyens, director general of the European Consumers’ Organisation, said: "It's reassuring that the commission is tackling the market's structural problems by introducing decoupling of roaming from domestic telecom subscriptions, and at last acting on the increasingly important issue of data roaming."
"The current cap of 90 cents per MB is a slow start. Consumers should not be ripped off for surfing the net abroad."