1 October 2007
People on holiday or on business in the EU will now benefit from cheaper mobile phone calls.
New European Commission legislation aimed at cutting the cost of roaming charges has meant phone operators have been forced to reduce their calling costs.
Operators can now charge a maximum of 34 pence per minute for outbound calls and 17 pence per minute to receive calls, although text messaging and internet charges still apply.
Viviane Reding, the EU telecoms commissioner, said: "We hope we've now seen the last of excessive roaming charges.
"The commission will, however, continue to monitor prices, in particular for SMS and data roaming, to make sure consumers do not suffer in other ways and to ensure after three years there is no longer a need to regulate."
Although the Eurotariff was introduced earlier in the summer this is the first time that customers have benefited from the measures automatically. Prior to this, customers had to respond to an offer from their operator to take advantage of the deal.
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