Roaming Going Away for Mobile Phone Customers in Europe

Cristian Onvio :: 2:58 PM

Expensive mobile phone roaming will soon be a thing of the past for wireless customers across Europe as European Union commissioners introduced legislation to do away with roaming charges.

Roaming charges for all facets of mobile communications – voice calls, texts and internet connectivity – will be eliminated as the EU attempts to declutter the telecommunications market in Europe. Carriers will expect to see a 2% drop in revenue due to the changes, but officials believe that companies will emerge better off, as customers will be more likely to use their phones while traveling outside of their home country.

European Commissioners are working on a broader plan to simplify telecommunications across the 27 member states in the union, as they feel the current system includes too many carriers and too much fragmentation. Compared to the 4 major wireless carriers in the United States, the EU has about 100.

Commissioners are working to push these reforms through in time for next May’s European elections. If all goes as planned, the roaming restrictions and charges could be removed as soon as June of 2014.