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Notably for mobile users roaming in the EU, this problem has already been solved by the European Parliament: Under the wide-ranging telecoms reforms, the cos
by junto 12y ago
Notably for mobile users roaming in the EU, this problem has already been solved by the European Parliament:
Under the wide-ranging telecoms reforms, the cost of making a call
or downloading internet data in another EU country will be the same
as at home.
The change is due to take effect from 15 December next year. It still
requires approval from EU governments.
In recent years the EU has legislated to lower the costs, so telecoms
operators have been forced to cap their fees.
The package was adopted by 534 votes to 25.
Source: MEPs vote to scrap mobile roaming fees in Europe
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26866966 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26866966
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20140401STO41552/html/Connecting-the-continent-how-MEPs-could-make-electronic-communication-easier#print http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/2014...
- NicoJuicy 12y agoThat is still till the end of 2015, so the problem isn't really solved, it will be solved in 15 months and 13 days (normally). But it will probably be delayed (telecom lobby)
- masklinn 12y agoRoaming fees have already been capped significantly: it's currently (since July 1st) 19c/mn (calling, 5c receiving), 6c/text and 20c/MB down from respectively 24c/mn, 8c/text and 45c/MB after the 2013 caps (and 70c/MB in 2012). And operators can and do provide better deals (my own provider's standard charge is 15c/MB and has "roaming packs" for 6c/MB to 8c/MB) (nb: "c" in this context is a euro-cent)
- diarmuidie 12y agoOne interesting side effect of this capping is that it is cheaper for me to phone a number on my home network while roaming, than it is when I'm in the country on the same network! Three Ireland Prepay account mobile calls 35c/min, roaming calls 19c/min.
- warming 12y agoHopefully competition among telcos will help as well. On my summer vacation (in Sweden and Italy) I enjoyed dataroaming at no additional cost (Danish telco, 5GB/month at EUR~13). But progress like this is likely slow outside countries with intense competition among telcos.
- NicoJuicy 12y agoCompetition among telcos is overrated, i have to see an example where increased competition really drove the price down ( according to my experience => i live in Belgium and prices here are really high)
- Retric 12y agoWholesale bandwidth prices dropped vary quickly due to competition basically everywhere.