Wednesday, August 27, 2008

EU Roaming Rates to Fall

As of the end of August, it will become cheaper to make or receive calls while travelling in the European Union.


The price ceiling for roaming calls (the Eurotariff) introduced by the EU in 2007 will fall from €0.49 to €0.46 per minute (excluding VAT) for making a call and from €0.24 to €0.22 per minute (excluding VAT) for receiving a call while in another EU country.


Under the present EU Roaming Regulation prices for roaming calls will go down a last time on 30 August 2009 to €0.43 per minute for making calls and to €0.19 per minute for receiving calls while in another EU country.



The European Commission noted that these price reductions are the result of the EU Roaming Regulation, proposed by the EC in 2006 to curb the excessive roaming charges consumers had to pay for roaming calls (on average €1.15 per minute at the time.


The EU Roaming Regulation which will expire in 2010, is currently under review.http://europa.eu