Brussels, 25/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - The new roaming regulation will come into force on 1 July 2012. This upcoming event provided the European Commission with an opportunity to point out, on 25 June, how much the new rules well help reduce bills for consumers using their mobile phones in a European Union country outside their own. The savings could be between €200-1,000 a year, for someone who travels a lot, suggested Ryan Heath, the spokesperson for Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes. He said the new rules will not eat into companies' incomes. He told the telecoms firms to stop complaining, look at the data and see that they would be winners too. Nonetheless, he called on consumers to examine very carefully the contracts operators proposed, to avoid any unpleasant surprises. The new prices caps (excluding VAT) are: 29 cents per minute to make a call (compared with 35 cents previously); 8 cents per minute to receive a call rather than 11 cents); 9 cents to send a text message (compared with 11 cents); 70 cents per megabyte (MB) to download data or browse the internet whilst travelling abroad (no previous cap).
In 2007, the European Commission intervened for the first time, in an effort to regulate roaming prices it judged excessive. In 2009, revised rules were adopted, which included a further phased price reduction. The Commission, however, thought that the market was still not competitive enough and decided to intervene a third time in 2012. Following the approval of the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, the regulation was swiftly adopted for implementation before the summer holidays. (IL/transl.fl)