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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
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EU regulations to put a stop to huge roaming charges

By | June 23, 2010, 8:51am PDT

Summary: Here’s a good move by the EU - put in place regulation to prevent roaming users from running up huge bills.

Here’s a good move by the EU - put in place regulation to prevent roaming users from running up huge bills.

From July 1st, travelers using mobile data in Europe will be cut off from the internet if they hit a €50 (around $60) ceiling. All mobile operators will also be required to give customers a warning when they reach 80% of the charges ceiling.

On top of that, there are roaming data price cuts. The maximum price per MB of roaming data uploaded or downloaded will be cut from €1 to €0.80. This will be cut again nest year to €0.50.

I’ve heard countless horror stories of people racking up incredible (and close to criminal) roaming charges. This should help make Europeans feel more confident when traveling. US mobile providers should now follow suit.

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Mobile, Ceiling, European Union, Regulations, Government, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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competition principle
xambassador 25th Jun 2010
Americans think it is magic, but Canadians know it is overrated. Why else did gasoline prices rise every weekend and fall during the week, until this year. Now with the Gulf of Mexico fiasco, the oil companies know they are very close to public demand for more regulation and a less cozy arrangement between themselves and government.
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Progress, but, even 1/2 a euro per MB is ridiculous. It should be 1/2 euro
DonnieBoy 23rd Jun 2010
per GB.
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obama can't do that
Linux Geek 23rd Jun 2010
he's a pussy when it comes standig up for the Americans people.
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RE: EU regulations to put a stop to huge roaming charges
Rama.NET 23rd Jun 2010
@Linux Geek
I don't know about Obama, but the regulators here in USA have become too lazy to shag the 4 major carriers. Otherwise AT&T wouldn't raise their cancellation charges for SmartPhones and AT&T and Verizon wouldn't even think about having a tiered plan. This is nothing but screwing people. If you use any SmartPhone (whether it is iPhone, Android or Windows) and you subscribed to Data plan, they outright suggest to use Wifi for your applications and surfing. and if your app requires a lot of data transaction, they outright stop and suggest to use WiFi. Why would I do that when I am paying for supposedly unlimited. They say unlimited, but there will be cap of 5GB per month if you are using data card.
--Ram--
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Why do Euro bureaucrats want to control everything
LBiege 23rd Jun 2010
If it's too expensive, users will stop using it and then the vendors have to lower the price to make it reasonable. Why do they need the government to be there?
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The problem is that they are not competing, and prices are held
DonnieBoy 23rd Jun 2010
artificially high. There is an oligopoly. So, many companies that MUST be able to send data on the road are held hostage.
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RE: EU regulations to put a stop to huge roaming charges
MichaelWells 24th Jun 2010
@DonnieBoy
There is nothing artificially high here. All of the above companies are still working on their networks, AT&T being the prime example. How do you think the companies generate revenue to extend and better the quality of their networks? Which ever company is the first to finish their infrastructure and recoup their expenses, they will drop their prices. They will do so to bring in customers from other providers. It is called competition. Americans are woefully uniformed on how a business operates.
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obama can't do that
bobcranston 24th Jun 2010
obama can't do that
he's a pussy when it comes standig up for the Americans people.

Come on now, you can't expect the president to take care of market issues relating to mobile phone service. Is it like he has nothing else to do with his time?
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RE: EU regulations to put a stop to huge roaming charges
SkaldedKat 24th Jun 2010
We have an ex-Prime Minister here in Australia who may be able to drop over to the USA and screw your country like he did to ours. Oh no, wait a minute, you already have Obama.
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competition principle
xambassador 25th Jun 2010
Americans think it is magic, but Canadians know it is overrated. Why else did gasoline prices rise every weekend and fall during the week, until this year. Now with the Gulf of Mexico fiasco, the oil companies know they are very close to public demand for more regulation and a less cozy arrangement between themselves and government.

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