EU roaming charges gone from Summer 2014

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/06/14/european-union-to-end-roaming-fees-across-the-continent-in-summer-2014-for-eu-carriers/

Stating in July 2014, Europeans will be free of burdensome roaming charges as they travel across the European Union's 27 member states. This comes after officials voted to terminate such fees for voice calls, text messages, and internet access as part of a move to create a single European telecoms market. This is great news for French citizens hopping across the border to Germany, but it will have no impact on tourists from outside of the continent. Americans, for example, will still have their roaming fees determined by their carriers back home.

Officials hope that this change will allow Europe to begin consolidating mobile network operators in order to improve the quality of service among member states. While Europe is roughly the same size as the United States, it has different companies catering to different countries, and this fragmentation has hampered the speed of growth. The EU predicts that carriers will first see a 2 percent drop in revenue following the change, but they will recoup this loss as customers increase how often they use their devices abroad. Being free from ridiculous charges does tend to have that effect on people.

I realize this isn't strictly android related but will be of interest to many here. It's about time!

Louche Lad

Aristotle wrote: »

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/06/14/european-union-to-end-roaming-fees-across-the-continent-in-summer-2014-for-eu-carriers/



I realize this isn't strictly android related but will be of interest to many here. It's about time!

Was going to post about this myself, but there doesn't seem to be a suitable place on Boards.ie. I travel a huge amount, and living in three countries I have three mobile phones.

Yes, at long last this rip-off is going to end. (I'll bet the big mobile operators have been lobbying very hard against this as they do make a lot of money from people who dare to cross a European border!)

danthefan

Three have already done away with roaming between Ireland and the UK I think which was welcome but being able to use the phone anywhere in Europe will be really great.

DECEiFER

danthefan wrote: »

Three have already done away with roaming between Ireland and the UK I think which was welcome but being able to use the phone anywhere in Europe will be really great.

The thing with Three is the "Three Like Home" thing they have going with their sister networks abroad, since they operate in many countries. If you roam in the UK on Three, you need to be jacked into Three UK. Dare you go out of signal and your phone picks up a different network, you could pay dearly. If that's no longer going to be the case, it is about time but it should also be welcomed with open arms and appreciation.

recyclebin

Does this mean I could get a cheap sim card abroad while on holidays and then use it back in Ireland? Cheap calls for everybody so.

I presume some of the eastern eu countries are the cheapest.

ardmacha

This is very welcome, especially on an island divided in two where the useless local politicians have singularly failed to address roaming despite all of the Anglo Irish agreements and the like. However, I see a few problems with the detail of implementing this. At present not all operators have arrangements with everyone else, if they don't sign a contract then you can't roam at any price. Calls between countries are not the same price, a situation that can't really last when this comes in. Someone could set up a service that just didn't work elsewhere and undercut the local market prices for those operators that did provide roaming (on which they would lose money).