EU roaming rules cut prices by 60 per cent

A new European Union (EU) regulation has cut roaming charges for mobile phones by as much as 60 per cent, the body has said.

The Eurotariff, which came into play at the end of September, capped charges for roaming rates at 24 cents (17 pence) for incoming and 49 cents (34 pence) for outgoing calls.

A European Regulators Group (ERG) survey has shown that most operators have complied with the new rules. By the end of August, some 200 million subscribers had signed up - or been signed up by their operator - for the Eurotariff. That number is expected to have doubled in the past month.

Roberto Viola, the chairman of the ERG, said: "The ERG is satisfied with the first results of the regulation's implementation. The process set up in cooperation between the [European] Commission and the ERG has provided guidelines to industry on how to put into practice the regulation and has helped national regulators in the monitoring activities. This is a very good example of harmonisation at work."

The lowest roaming charges are now offered in the Netherlands, at 20 cents for all calls, and the UK, at 32 cents for calls made and 13 cents for calls received. The EU said that such prices, which are lower than the cap, show strong evidence of competition.

A secondary part of the regulation also came into effect at the end of September, which means customers should receive pricing information every time they cross a border.

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