Europe: Reduced Costs for Texting Abroad
July coming, a text message sent from one EU country to another will cost no more than 0.11 euro, compared to 0.28 today.
The EP voted by a large majority in favor of new EU rules on SMS and data roaming, proposed by the Commission last September.
The Parliament also voted for further cuts in the price of mobile phone calls while roaming in another EU country. The present cap for a mobile phone call made abroad will drop from 0.46 to 0.35 euro per minute, but only by July 2011, and from 0.22 today to 0.11 for mobile calls received while roaming abroad.
Mobile operators will also be required to bill roaming calls by the second from the 31st second at the latest, which will end the current practice under which consumers are overcharged by up to 24%.
The Council of EU Telecoms Ministers already signaled to agree with the new roaming rules. The Commission expects European consumers to save up to 60% on their bill for using a mobile phone abroad in the EU.
Read the full press release.
Read a related press release on the EP website with more details on price cuts.
Overview of current roaming charges in the EU
Source: EC
