Roaming charges for British travellers using their phones in EU countries are on course to be slashed from October. Proposals to outlaw the exorbitant fees – which have led to holidaymakers and businessmen being hit by huge bills for using their mobiles abroad – are under review in Brussels.
It would mean anyone from the UK travelling to other member states would enjoy the same charges for calls, texts and data use as they would in their home country. The plans have been under consideration for months but were widely expected to fail by industry and government insiders.
But yesterday it emerged that representatives of two member states believed the plans were ‘in the bag’ after high-level meetings with EU leaders. The discussions, at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, come weeks before a vote is expected on the issue, in mid-March.
Experts predict the removal of roaming charges could wipe two per cent off mobile operators’ revenues, but some say it will encourage customers to use their phones more.
It could also knock hundreds of pounds off the bills of UK holidaymakers, who on average spend an extra £120 on their mobile phone on each trip abroad, according to a recent study.
Earlier this year, a study by the European Commission found that half of tourists in Europe are so terrified of huge bills that they refuse to use their phone on holiday. Under the current plans, operators could be banned from charging for incoming calls from as early as October, with negotiations beginning in July. All other roaming charges would be scrapped by 2016.
The ban would follow caps on charges across the EU which have been in place since 2007. At the time phone, companies were estimated to make around £3.4billion from these fees. Current charge caps are €0.24 (20p) per minute for calls, €0.08 (7p) per text message and €0.45 (37p) per megabyte of data, all excluding VAT.
From July 2014 those will be reduced to €0.19 (16p) per minute for calls, €0.06 (5p) per text and €0.20 (17p) per MB of data. Receiving a text in Europe has been free since 2009.