T-Mobile has announced that it will cut its roaming charges across the EU by 80% on the first of July, and the cost of sending text messages from EU countries by 30% on 30th August.A T-Mobile spokesperson said “We will cut the cost of international internet access from a handset and mobile broadband connectivity via a USB dongle or data card from £7.50 per megabyte to £1.50, and the cost of sending a text from EU countries will be brought down by 38 per cent, from 0.40p to 0.25p.” This follows O2’s announcement last week that it would cut the cost of data usage in Europe to £3 per megabyte, an 80% drop for pre-pay customers.
European commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding had previosuly given the networks an ultimatum to reduce roaming charges by the 1st of July 2008, or face a regulatory smiting. At a meeting earlier this month, she told CEOs “Do your job, respond to consumer concerns and lower your prices. You know exactly where you have to go.” The ruling calls for mobile operators to drastically reduce their charges for roaming and sending texts in Europe.
This will come as welcome news for consumers roaming abroad, who until now have had to pay through the nose for mobile broadband outside the UK. Even after a drop in data charges, the O2 £3 per MB deal still works out far more expensive than broadband at home - in order to upload a 200MB video to YouTube on the mobile broadband platform, you would have to fork out a whopping £600.
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