Europe's next roaming charge cut comes into force on July 1st
From July, anyone travelling in any of the EU member countries with their smartphone will enjoy a few less numbers on their bill. As part of new roaming caps coming into effect next week, the European Commission has cut the price of data downloads by 55 percent. This means the most you'll pay for a megabyte is 20 cents instead of 45. As promised by the Commission's VP Neelie Kroes, the new price caps will also drop call charges by 21 percent to 19 cents per minute, while receiving calls will be reduced to 5 cents per minute. Text message costs are down 25 percent to 6 cents, but it's the lower cost of data roaming that's the banner announcement, meaning smartphone owners can safely sneak in a quick tweet or Instagram upload while they're making their way across Europe. Some customers, like those on Three in the UK, can bypass charges completely by way of free roaming plans, but for those who find themselves in an unsupported country, the new rates could lighten possible bill shocks in the future.
