The plane hits the tarmac in your sunshine holiday destination and one of the first things you do is switch off the data roaming on your mobile phone to avoid astronomical phone bills when you get home… Well that will soon change. From 1st July the maximum amounts phone companies can charge for data roaming will be significantly less.
Lower Costs for Data Roaming in Europe
From 1st July the amount you can be charged by your mobile phone company for using 1MB of mobile data will be slashed from 45 cents (about 43p) down to just 20 cents (around 19p); less than half! You can view more about the pricing caps here.
Data Roaming is Set to be Scrapped
Things are going to get even better as European Parliament members have voted to scrap data roaming charges completely which means the cost of making a call abroad, or surfing the internet on your phone will cost the same as it does at home. This will not come into play until December 2015 but the decrease in data roaming charges from July are a big step forward.
Whilst many holiday villas now have WiFi internet as standard, the quality of internet signal in Europe is not guaranteed so being able to get online on your mobile without paying a fortune is a big bonus.
Of course you do still need to keep in mind that charges for calls, texts and mobile data that may be included in you mobile phone package in the UK will be charged for if you are travelling in Europe so you still need to keep your mobile activity to a minimum. It’s also important to check that the country you are travelling to is in the EU. Places like Turkey and Tunisia are not so they still carry higher data roaming charges.
Mobile phone networks all have varying charges for data roaming so although the price is now capped at a much lower rate it is also sensible to check with your network provider before you travel to see what their charges are. You should also shop around and see which mobile network is offering the most competitive rates for data roaming.
If you want to download shows or films to your tablet or mobile do this before you go on holiday to avoid using lots of data while you are away and if you have WiFi in your Holiday Villa or Apartment it is best to turn off your data roaming while you are there so that you can connect to WiFi and enjoy using the internet free of charge.
