While using a mobile phone all users have to pay an extra charge for their text messages and mobile internet service when traveling outside the country. But Europeans seems to pay a much higher cost than normal.
The roaming charges that tourists and traveling people have to pay outside their country has reduced to approximately 60 percent. This is because the European Commission has capped fees from September 2007.
EU’s telecoms chief warned on Thursday about action that is to be taken on high costs of text message and mobile internet charges.
There is no such price limit for the 202 billion text messages research firm Gartner said were sent in Western Europe last year, or for business travelers who check e-mail on a BlackBerry from a foreign airport.
As the cost of text messages and data roaming were reported to be very high by a research made from European Regulators Group which was collected from 150 European operators from April to September so EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane was concerned.
“We will watch developments very closely and respond appropriately by the end of 2008,” said Vivian.
She then gave a warning to the phone companies to reduce their call fees. As their roaming charges for voice calls are very high the people don’t make calls once they are outside their country. She kept on fighting for this and finally she won EU government and European Parliament to put a ban on charges from the 1st September 2007.
The charges were more than 49 euro cents (67 U.S. cents) a minute for making calls, and 24 euro cents (32 U.S. cents) for receiving calls, outside travelers’ home countries.
The EU price will drop even further more by 2009. Before the EU dropped their charges a call made from France to Germany would cost 4 euros which is around US$5.92. Strangely if a call was made within France with a much longer distance would cost just a few cents.
After the charges have been reduced Telecom companies have started complaining as it their main cash cow which has brought them 10 to 18 percent of their revenue.