28th April 2009 - Holiday mobile phone bills set to fall again

Holiday makers this summer are set to see their mobile bills fall after MEPs voted to cut the cost of calling, texting and using mobile internet.

The move has been backed by local Labour MEP Linda McAvan as “another example of Labour MEPs getting a fairer deal for consumers”.

Under the new rules, from July this year, the price of roaming phone calls across Europe will drop continuously over the next three years so that by July 2011 outgoing calls will cost a maximum of €0.35 (approximately 32 pence) per minute and incoming calls a maximum of €0.11 (approximately 10p) per minute excluding VAT.

Texting while abroad will cost a maximum of 11 cents from July 2009. The maximum cost of other data roaming services such as sending emails and web-browsing will drop from €1.00 (90p) per megabyte from July 2009 to €0.50 (45p) per megabyte from July 2011.

Linda said:

“Last year we were able to bring down the cost of making and receiving mobile phone costs abroad. That legislation put an end to the outrageous charges of some mobile companies around Europe. This year we have been able to extend those rules to cover text messages and mobile internet. It is another example of how, when companies operate in several different countries, we can use Europe-wide rules to get a fairer deal for consumers.”