Using mobiles abroadMobile roaming cost regulation

Since October 2007, all mobile service providers have had to offer cheaper EU mobile roaming prices to customers using their mobiles abroad.

It took more than a year of negotiations to agree on cuts in the cost of using mobiles to make and receive calls abroad in much of Europe – and to have the deal approved by the EU.

Cheaper international mobile calls and texts from abroad

You should pay around 40p per minute to call home

Under this mobile Eurotariff, EU residents should pay around 40p a minute to make international mobile roaming calls back to their home country when roaming in EU countries, and about 20p a minute to receive mobile roaming calls. The exact maximum charges change according to the pound to euro exchange rate.

More recently, the cost of sending texts has been forced down too, to 11p from a former rate of between 25p and 40p for UK mobile users.

Which UK mobile provider offers the cheapest mobile prices for roaming calls in the EU?

Mobile network 3's costs are among the lowest for making calls back to the UK and receiving calls when roaming in EU countries – at 34p and 15p a minute respectively.

Tesco's mobile roaming charges are also reasonable at 35p a minute to make mobile roaming calls to the UK and 15p a minute to receive mobile roaming calls from the UK.

Mobile network O2 charges 35p a minute to make mobile roaming calls and 18p a minute to receive mobile roaming calls in the EU.

Orange, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone all lowered their international call prices by as little as possible following the EU mobile roaming regulation. Initially, all four mobile providers charged the maximum 38p a minute to make mobile roaming calls in EU countries. But T-Mobile and Virgin have taken advantage of the euro's strength against the pound to put their prices up again, to 43p a minute for making calls.

The lower enforced charges for making mobile roaming calls from abroad only apply for international mobile calls made back to home countries, and not mobile roaming calls to other countries or within the foreign country you're calling from.

Some mobile service providers may include other countries in their cheaper call costs when you use your mobile phone abroad, but you'll need to check to be sure.

Mobile roaming bill shock

Sometimes a customer's mobile phone bill is much higher than expected as a result of poor transparency about the cost of using services.

To help prevent bill shock, the European Commission has ruled that mobile networks must allow customers to choose a cut-off mechanism once the bill reaches a certain level. Operators have until March 2010 to put these transparency measures in place.

The watchdog also plans to introduce the principle of per-second billing after the first 30 seconds for mobile roaming calls made, and from the first second for calls received, while abroad, so consumers don't end up paying through the nose for more call time than they actually use.

Mobile industry resistance to mobile roaming regulation

Many mobile operators argued against capping the cost of mobile roaming calls in Europe, saying that they would be forced to pass on the costs in other areas.

We think that, since the European Commission ruled that the cost of mobile roaming was unjustifiably high before regulation, passing on costs elsewhere would be unjustifiable. We hope that Ofcom, the UK's phone regulator, keeps a close eye on the matter.

The European Commission only has the power to force mobile roaming price reductions in EU countries. In an ideal world, mobile phone operators would recognise that if mobile roaming charges in Europe have been ruled to be unfair, then the same may be true when it comes to making roaming calls on a wider international level.

However, no mobile companies have made any moves to reduce mobile roaming costs outside of Europe.

We will keep you up to date with mobile roaming developments.