Mobile roaming rip-off ends today

EU legislation that sees the cost of using a mobile phone in Europe slashed comes into force today.

Network operators now have to limit the price of sending a text message while in the EU to 0.11 (9p) from its current cost of up to 0.28 (24p). Calling is being capped at 0.43 (36p) per minute instead of 0.46 (39p).

Receiving texts while in EU will be free and charges for receiving calls will be limited to 0.19 (16p) per minute, instead of the current 0.22 (19p).

The cost of surfing the web from a handset abroad has also been slashed, with wholesale prices capped at 1 (85p) per megabyte downloaded. This cap is expected to fall to 0.80 (68p) in 2010 and to 0.50 (42p) in 2011.

Under the new legislation, mobile phone users will also be given per-second billing after the first 30 seconds of a call and will be automatically cut-off once a bill hits 50 (£42) to prevent 'bill shocks'.

"This marks the definite end of the roaming rip-off in Europe," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding

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See also: 75% of Brits in fear of mobile roaming charges