De EU in ons dagelijkse leven: mobiel bellen (en)

Just a few years ago, the high price of calls and text messages meant that few people dared use their mobile phone abroad. The charges that hit consumers as soon as they crossed the border to another EU country hindered both the EU's common market and free movement within the union. Over the last few years, charges have reduced significantly following intervention from the EU.

Previously, using your mobile phone in another EU country could prove very expensive. A holiday-maker from an EU country could be charged up to EUR 13.00 for a four-minute conversation. On average, it was four times more expensive to use your phone in other EU countries than at home, because of roaming charges - the extra charges that the customer has to pay to use their telephone outside of their home country. As a result, many simply avoided making or answering calls. Those who used their mobile phone anyway risked being faced with shocking bills when they got home.

In the early years of the 21st century, this matter was taken up by the EU. The point was that these extra charges to the consumer were unreasonable. They could not be linked to higher costs for the mobile phone companies, for example. This meant that the high costs were seen as an obstacle to the EU’s internal market and the free movement of people. According to a survey by the European Commission in 2006, just over 20 per cent of all Europeans only used their mobile phone to send text messages when travelling abroad. Fifteen per cent chose to turn off their mobile phone or simply leave it at home.

After having sharply criticised the mobile phone companies over a number of years, and demanding a reduction in the roaming charges, the Commission presented a proposal to gradually introduce a ceiling for the cost of mobile phone calls abroad. After negotiations in the European Parliament and between the EU Member States in the Council, the law was passed in time for the 2007 summer holiday season. Since then, the price ceiling has been lowered further, which means that it may now cost a maximum of EUR 0.43 per minute plus VAT to call from another EU country, and a maximum of EUR 0.19 to receive a call.

Since this EU regulation came into force, the prices for text messaging and surfing the internet from a mobile phone have also come under the microscope. Consumers continued to be hit with excessive bills after trips abroad, for example owing to prices for text messaging, which were between three and 25 times higher than in the consumer’s home country. In this case as well, investigations showed that the mobile phone companies' surcharges were not in fact based on real costs, but were mostly pure profit. The high cost of surfing the internet from a mobile phone also put people off using these services abroad. In one much-discussed case, a traveller was hit with a bill for EUR 40.000 after having watched a television programme online.

As a result of this, new rules were adopted earlier this year by a unanimous Council and a large majority in the European Parliament. The changes, which applied from 1 July, are expected to reduce consumers' mobile phone bills following trips within the EU by up to 24 per cent, according to figures from the European Commission.

FACT / What the EU decisions mean for you

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  It may cost a maximum of EUR 0.11 to send a text message. The average price was previously EUR 0.28.
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  The maximum price for voice calls will continue to fall over the next few years. By mid-2011, it will have dropped to EUR 0.35 per minute plus VAT to make a call, and EUR 0.11 to receive a call.
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  Clearer information for the customer. It will be possible to activate a lock if the mobile phone bill goes over a certain amount.
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  Calls will be debited per second, rather than per minute or part-minute, after the first 30 seconds.
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  The prices for surfing the internet from a mobile phone will be reduced significantly at wholesale level, to EUR 1.00 per megabyte downloaded.