EU data roaming charges scrapped

Mobile phone users travelling in the EU will pay the same rates as at home from June 2017, EU has r

Clocking up a huge mobile phone bills during a trip to Europe will be a thing of the past within two years as the EU announces plans to axe roaming charges.

From June 2017, when traveling with the EU, mobile phone users will pay the same prices as at home with no extra charges.

The measures form part of an "ambitious overhaul" of EU telecoms rules which also encompass net neutrality measures which will allow users to access web content of their choice regardless of their location.

The price of making calls and browsing the web while travelling in the EU has fallen by a massive 80 per cent over the past decade, the EU said, adding that they will get smaller again next year before they are axed entirely.

From next April, operators will be able to charge only "a small additional amount" to domestic prices – up to €0.05 (£0.04) per minute for calls, €0.02 per text message and €0.05 per MB of data used – all excluding VAT.

Andrus Ansip, commission vice president for the EU's Digital Single Market, said:

"Europeans have been calling and waiting for the end of roaming charges as well as for net neutrality rules. They have been heard. We still have a lot of work ahead of us to create a Digital Single Market. Our plans to make it happen were fully endorsed by heads of state and government last week, and we should move faster than ever on this."

Günther Oettinger, commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, said: "I welcome today's crucial agreement to finally end roaming charges and establish pragmatic net neutrality rules throughout the EU. Both are essential for consumers and businesses in today's European digital economy and society. We will build on these important foundations in our forthcoming review of the EU's telecoms legislation."