The cost of using a mobile phone while on holiday in Europe has come down. The rate reduction is part of the European Commission’s plans to have roaming rates on phones at the same as domestic rates. It plans to do this by 2015. As of today, mobile operators are not permitted to charge more than 32 pence per minute for an outgoing call, or more than 10 pence per minute on received calls.

The regulation of roaming charges was introduced by Viviane Reding in 2007 when she was information, society and media commissioner. Maximum call charges have since been reduced by around six per cent each year.

In June 2010, UK operators T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone and O2 challenged the price reduction scheme. However, the European Court of Justice dismissed the complaint. The price of data was also reduced by the commission from 72 pence per megabyte to 45 pence per megabyte.

Whereas the cap in call pricing affects the consumer directly, the cap in the wholesale rate of data is to do with what mobile phone operators charge each other. A cap of £45 is also placed on how much money a mobile owner is allowed to spend while roaming. The limit is imposed so that those using their phone while away do not return home to find an unexpectedly large bill.

Those wishing to spend more time using their mobiles while travelling usually have to get permission from their operator to extend the cap on their data consumption.