Vodafone abolishes roaming charges in mobile phone price war

Vodafone made the first move in an expected price war between mobile phone companies by abolishing roaming charges for British customers travelling in Europe. Under the terms of the three-month deal beginning on June 1, Vodafone’s customers will be able to call and text phones in Britain from 35 European countries for the price they would be charged in Britain. It is thought that the price cuts could be the first of many from mobile operators as caps on roaming fees are due to come into force on July 1. The European Commission has targeted the often hefty charges for calling from abroad, dubbed the “roaming rip-off” by Viviane Reding, the EU Telecoms Commissioner, with a two-year plan to cut charges by an average of 60 per cent. This was approved by MEPs in April. Some mobile phone customers have unwittingly run up bills of hundreds of pounds when using their phones on holiday. The European Commission plans include limits on the cost of mobile phone texting and downloads when abroad, cutting the price of a roaming text message for a British customer by more than half from an average of 25p to a maximum of 10p. The current cap of 41p per minute for a call made to Britain from another EU country will drop to 31p by July 2011. Vodafone said that a mobile phone user on one of its plans with 600 inclusive minutes and unlimited texts would be able to use these on holiday without paying any extra charges under the new arrangement. Find More at TimesOnline and TrustedReviews

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