Europeans Happier This Morning

The BBC reports this morning that the cost of making mobile phone calls in Europe is set to fall substantially after lawmakers backed plans to cap roaming charges. The cost mobile customers are charged by providers for using their devices while abroad should now fall by as much as 75%.

More than 150 million people across Europe will be affected by the changes in the pricing regime.

However, consumers will not feel the benefits of lower prices until late July or early August at the earliest and text messaging will not be covered by the new proposals.

After finding huge differences in what people have to pay in different countries of the EU, it was decided to cap costs for all EU members. Under the plans, the cost of making a mobile call anywhere in the EU would be capped at 49 euro cents a minute in year one, while receiving a call would cost 24 cents at most. These costs will fall to 46 euro cents and 22 cents respectively in year two, and 43 cents and 19 cents in year three.

For example, British mobile users currently have to pay up to 5.92 euros for a four-minute call made while in Spain. Under the changes, this would fall to 1.96 euros.