💾 Archived View for gmi.noulin.net › mobileNews › 4778.gmi captured on 2023-06-14 at 15:41:22. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2023-01-29)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
2013-07-01 11:21:38
The cost of using a mobile phone in another European Union country will fall
again on Monday.
New EU limits come into force which will reduce the amount mobile phone
providers can charge for making or receiving calls abroad.
It will also bring down the cost of accessing the internet.
For the past six years the EU has been forcing prices down by placing a cap on
the charges providers can impose and reducing that limit each year.
Data rates
The cost of making mobile phone calls outside a person's own country, known as
roaming, has traditionally been very high.
The latest cuts come into force on Monday, when the maximum cost of making a
call will fall by a fifth to 24 euro cents a minute or just over 20p, plus the
VAT rate applicable in the relevant EU country.
But the biggest change is to data charges - the cost of using the internet or
applications linked to it.
That will fall by roughly a third to 45 euro cents per megabyte or about 38.5p,
plus VAT.
However, these reductions will only apply within the borders of the European
Union.
In other countries charges both for making calls and for using the internet are
likely to remain higher.
New mobile roaming price caps
Summer 2012 Summer 2013
Euro prices are constant, pounds are at current exchange rate, numbers exclude
VAT in the relevant country. Source: European Commission
Internet browsing
70 cents/ 60 pence per MB
45 cents/ 39 pence per MB
Making a call
29 cents/ 25 pence per minute
24 cents/ 21 pence per minute
Receiving a call
8 cents/ 7 pence per minute
7 cents/ 6 pence per minute
Sending a text
9 cents/ 8 pence per SMS
8 cents/ 7 pence per SMS
Because Croatia joins EU on Monday, the same day as the price caps are
introduced, the difference is most stark there.
Travellers to Croatia see biggest change
Data used during a week's trip June 2013 data charges July 2013 data charges
June data calculated at 6 per MB, July data at 45 cents. Pounds are at current
exchange rate. Excluding VAT. Source: European Commission
Checking a map five times
30 / 25.68
2.25 / 1.92
Checking social media accounts every day for half an hour
210 / 179.76
15.75 / 13.48
Uploading one photo every day
84 / 71.90
6.30 / 5.39
Sending one email per day
0.84 / 0.72
0.06 / 0.05
TOTAL
324.84 / 278.06
24.36 / 20.85
Last year, the European Parliament passed regulations to make using a mobile
phone abroad significantly cheaper.
The EU said the regulations were designed to prevent "bill shock".
This is the moment when travellers discover they have have run up huge bills
after making calls and using data applications, such as maps, while away.