EU To Lower Mobile Charges

The European Parliament will vote on a proposal to lower voice and texts costs when using mobile phones abroad.

The European Parliament is set to vote on a proposal that will drastically lower the cost of making voice and text calls when abroad – a cap on roaming costs.

The BBC reports that the costs of text messages could fall from around 46 cents to just 18 cents, while roaming voice calls could see a reduction from about 72 to 54 cents per minute. Additionally, customers could set limits on data downloads to avoid a shock bill later.

The first caps on roaming charges came a year ago, but they only applied to voice calls, and now Viviane Reding, EU commissioner for telecommunications, has more radical plans in front of the European Parliament since mobile operators haven’t imposed voluntary price reductions.

If passed, the new pricing will take effect next July.