UPDATE2 EU Mobile Broadband and Phone Roaming Prices Get Cheaper

The price of making a mobile phone call, sending a text message or surfing the internet from your Mobile Broadband connection while roaming abroad within Europe has today dropped another level after last year’s regulatory changes continued to impact both retail and wholesale costs.

The new rules were formally adopted by the EU Council of Ministers last year and came into force on 1st July 2012 (here). The changes, which must be reviewed again by 30th June 2016, require mobile operators to cut their prices on 1st July each year until 2014.

In addition consumers should also receive a warning message when they approach 50 Euros +vat of charges in a month (if the foreign network is compatible), which is designed to stop BILL SHOCKS. The following prices are in Euros (today’s currency rate: 1 Euro = £0.86p).

Separately the European Commission (EC) are currently debating new rules that, if passed, could potentially eradicate roaming charges within Europe. But some of the proposals are highly contentious and could receive stiff opposition from mobile operators, which are already concerned about the continuing pressures on their various revenue streams.

As usual it’s up to mobile operators around the United Kingdom and Europe to adapt as the changes are introduced. However consumers should remain mindful that not every country within the European continent is a part of the EU and thus some are still subject to higher prices.

Meanwhile we’ve yet to see any updates about price changes from Three UK, O2, Vodafone or EE (Orange UK and T-Mobile). This could be because they’re being deliberately slow, incompetent or simply feel as if the changes they made last year should still suffice (that may be true for voice calls and texts but the price difference for data is a lot wider).

UPDATE 12:49pm

Mobile operator Three UK has incidentally launched a new pay-as-you-go package 3p a minute for calls, 2p a text and 1p for each MB (MegaByte) of data. But these are UK charges only and we assume they’re inc. VAT.

Pay monthly customers of Three UK can add the Euro Internet Pass, which claims to give you “the freedom to browse the mobile internet for £5 a day“. But the standard data roaming rates for France (just one example) are currently set at 45.8p / MB or 0.52 Euros at today’s rate.

UPDATE 1:05pm

O2 has now updated its “Travel” prices to adjust for the new charges. Outside of their special add-on’s the standard rate for data is 46p / MB.