European Parliament Set Proposals To Cut The Cost Of Using Mobile Phones in The EU

Cheap international calls provider Firstnumber are encouraging everyone to educate themselves with new regulations - designed to significantly reduce the cost of using a mobile phone whilst in the EU - which have been passed by the European parliament.

The new proposals are set to come into effect on July 1st of this year, placing a cap on the cost of calls and mobile data whilst roaming in the EU. Call costs are to be reduced to a limited €0.29 per minute, continuing to fall to €0.19 by 2014. The cost of mobile data will be capped at €0.70 per megabyte, reaching a surprisingly low €0.20 per megabyte by 2014. Furthermore, the legislation denotes the inclusion of a cap on the cost of text messaging, which will see a drop to €0.11 this July, with a further reduction to €0.06 in 2014.

A spokesperson at Firstnumber commented: “This news is great news and since the initial proposals in March the goal of eradicating the current divide between domestic and foreign mobile charges is the only way forward, With millions of consumers to benefit”.

“With the changes beginning on the 1st of July this year, this will no doubt help reduce the number of those victim of 'bill-shock' when returning from their holiday. At Firstnumber, we are doing our bit to help foreign visitors cut their phone bills with our discounted call rates from both landlines and mobiles for anyone dialling abroad from the UK.”

This action has been taken by the European Parliament to help combat the frightening bills consumers have experienced when coming back from their holidays, known as 'bill-shock'. The EU have confirmed that once the changes are implemented will mean savings up to £800 a year, for a “typical” businessman.

What’s more, other changes are also set to be introduced under the new regulations, allowing consumers to choose a different operator that can offer cheaper pricing – without the need to change their mobile phone number.

The spokesperson went on to say: “At Firstnumber we are happy to provide the cheapest calls to over 500 countries worldwide. We also promote a high level of transparency to all our customers by ensuring there are no hidden costs or subscription fees. Hopefully the new regulation will follow suit and ensure that network providers promote transparency regarding price and information available to their consumers, when travelling worldwide.”