MEPs vote to ban roaming charges
The European parliament has voted to impose a ban on roaming charges on mobile phones within the EU from 15th December next year.
The legislation, which still has to be approved by the EU Council of Ministers, is the latest in a series of measures taken in recent years to cut the cost of making mobile calls between EU countries. Assuming the law comes into force, from the end of next year calling someone in Italy from a UK mobile, for example, will cost exactly the same as making a domestic mobile call.
It has been estimated that British travellers paid £112 million in roaming charges in 2013 alone. A European Commission survey carried out in February found that over 25% of mobile phone users switched off their handsets when travelling outside their own country across the EU.
Speaking about the vote, the vice-resident of the European commissioner for digital affairs, Neelie Kroes, said: “This is what the EU is all about – getting rid of barriers to make life easier and less expensive. We should know what we are buying, we should not be ripped off, and we should have the opportunity to change our mind.”
Mobile network operators are expected to see their revenues cut by around 2% as a result of the changes; however, this is likely to be negated as continuing consolidation within the industry brings economies of scale and companies expand their networks to cope with the ever-increasing demand for data brought about by the explosion in the number of smartphones and tablets.
Sources: BBC, The Telegraph.