In this edition of U talk, our question comes from Juan in Madrid:
“I often need to check my e-mails on my mobile when travelling in the EU. I know that there are price limits for phone calls but what about data roaming?”
Malgorzata Kurowska, Senior Communications Officer at Europe Direct responds:
“Currently there are no price caps on data roaming in the EU.
“However this is about to change: as from 1 July this year, new EU rules will for the first time impose a price limit that operators can charge for mobile data services.
“The cost of using these services will be capped at 70 euro cents per megabyte and that will then gradually fall to 45 cents in July 2013 and 20 cents one year later.
“This will mean significant savings for people like you who want to check their emails on a smartphone when travelling. For example, a French or German business man or woman will pay seven times less for checking their emails than they did 3 years ago.
“At the same time, the new rules will also lower the current price caps on voice and texting (SMS) services: a one-minute call will cost no more than 29 cents from 1 July 2012 and 19 cents from July 2014, down from the current maximum of 35 cents.
“Text messages will also be cheaper, falling from the current cap of 11 cents to 9 cents on 1 July this year and 6 cents on 1 July 2014.
“Finally, as from 1 July 2014, customers will also have the option to choose a separate mobile contract for roaming services that may be different from their domestic mobile provider, while keeping the same phone number – and they will not be charged for switching providers.”
For more information about the EU, call 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 or check out the website: europa.eu/youreurope
If you would like to ask a question on U-talk, just click on the button below.