EU passes regulation that will lower mobile roaming charges

Starting July 1, charges on calls made while travelling in other EU countries should no longer exceed 29 cents per minute, and calls received while abroad should cost no more than 8 cents per minute. Sending a text message while away will be capped at 9 cents. According to Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes, who initiated the new legislation, the reform would allow both individual and corporate mobile phone users to get serious cuts on their roaming expenses.

"Normally spoken, for a family, it will then make a difference when they're going on summer holiday of 200 euros. This year already. and for businesses, for the business people, it makes a difference talking about 1000 euros on annual base," Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said.

The bill also limits for the first time the prices operators can charge consumers surfing the Internet on mobile devices to 70 cents per megabyte in 2012 and 20 cents in 2014. The legislation drew criticisms from many of Europe's biggest telecom groups, as they fear for its profits. But Kroes rejected the argument, saying they had been overpricing for a long time.

"It is like a spoiled child that is used to a certain treatment and then, when time is over, then is saying "I prefer the past". Past is over, future is there. We need to be competitive and we need to take into account that the bills were too high in the roaming field," Kroes said.

Mobile phone users who travel often welcomed the new legislation, saying they were looking forward to being charged less and having a better understanding of the rates when using mobile phones abroad.

"You never really knew how much it would cost you to make a phone call when you were abroad, so I really welcome this new legislation. And, yes, it will indeed affect me because, you know, working here, living here, but then travelling a lot", said German expat Dietmar Krissler, who lives in Brussels, but often flies between Belgium, Greece and Germany.

"When I use my mobile abroad, I see the invoice going up with jumps. And I think that it's not all right and that something has to be done," says Dutch national Paul Verburgt, who lives and works in Brussels. His view was echoed by business people on a working trip to Brussels.

"This is going to affect me a lot because I travel a lot, I would like to believe in it. Then it would be fine. Let's see." said Severing Lefebvre, a woman from Paris who travels abroad once a month.

In a time where many European citizens resent being ruled by Brussels, Kroes said the new legislation passed today can be seen as an example of the EU's ability to pair the concerns of its citizens with rules affecting competition on a European scale. Kroes said problems such as high roaming costs could never have been solved at a national level, but only through competition at the Union's level.