Roaming Mobile Phone Costs Set To Fall As EU Rules Against Mobile Networks

The costs of using a mobile phone whilst travelling in Europe are set to fall as the European Court of Justice rejected an appeal from mobile phone operators, who were challenging a ruling to reduce their roaming fees.

In a ruling made in 2007, the EU forced mobile phone operators to reduce their inter European call charges to a maximum of 29p by 2011. The costs of receiving a call in Europe was also capped at a maximum of 10p. The major UK mobile phone operators filed an appeal, which has now been squashed by the European Court of Justice, which is the highest court in the European Union.

This means that the cost of making calls on a mobile in a member state of the EU will fall in 2011.

Some companies such as Vodafone, for example, claim to have already reduced their inter European call charges to below those enforced by this legislation.

The Vodafone Passport tariff, which can into effect on June 1st means that customers pay their standard home rate to call the UK from over 35 European countries – and from Australia and New Zealand.

However when making a call back to the UK, or within the country you’re visiting, there’s a 75p connection charge. Then you’ll pay your home rate for the time you spend on the call.

If receiving a call whilst abroad, you will also pay a 75p per connection charge, however you can then talk for up to 60 minutes free of charge.

The EU ruling applies to the cost of texting and downloading from the Internet so consumers can expect to see the costs of using these services in Europe falling in the near future.