Roaming charges in the EU sliced in half
While not exclusively news related to the Algarve, it is something that will surely impact any traveler there who wants to stay in touch with friends and family back home.
Starting from the 1st of July 2014, the EU is cutting the price caps for data downloads by more than half – down from 45 cents per megabyte to 20 cents per MB. This means that using Google maps, watching videos, checking email and updating your Facebook or Twitter account will become cheaper when traveling across the European Union.
As an example of the immediate effect of this move, the European Commission said that football fans travelling in and around the EU during this World Cup Season will be paying 25 times less for data roaming compared to what they paid during the 2010 World Cup.
Ever since the EU introduced caps on data roaming, data consumption has risen dramatically, but this move will also make phone call sand text messages cheaper as well.
European mobile providers can start offering users a specific roaming deal before traveling and – where available – they can allow clients to choose a local mobile provider for data services like emails, reading news, uploading photos and watching videos, in whichever country that you are visiting. This will allow for the customer to compare rates before making a selection.
Moreso the European Union has said that they are currently working on new rules meant to eliminate roaming charges altogether.
It is called the Connected Continent regulation and it plans to end roaming charges and guarantee open and neutral internet, alongside better consumer protection for mobile and broadband users.
For a bit of comparison with how things used to be, back in 2007 when the EU started to take action related to roaming charges, these were at their peak. Seven years later, the costs of roaming services have dropped by 80 to ninety percent, and that is absolutely extraordinary.
