Press Material

Each press pack links to all relevant material (press releases, speeches, documents, background notes, Factsheets, etc.) released on that day by the European Commission.

Press Pack 11 (1 July 2009): End of "roaming rip-off": cost of texting, calling, surfing the web abroad to plummet from today thanks to EU action: As of today, sending a text message from abroad in the EU costs a maximum €0.11, almost three times cheaper than the previous EU average of €0.28 (excl. VAT). To make a roamed call in another EU country must not cost more than €0.43 per minute, and no more than €0.19 to receive a call. From today, outgoing roaming calls will be charged by the second, after the first 30 seconds, rather than by the minute, and incoming calls will be charged by the second from the first second.
Press Pack 10 (23 September 2008): Commission acts to cut cost of texting and mobile data services abroad: Mobile phone users can expect the cost of sending text messages from abroad in the EU to be much cheaper next summer.
Press Pack 9 (15 July 2008): "Texting without borders": Commission plans ending roaming rip-offs for text messages abroad: The 2.5 billion text messages sent every year by roaming customers in the EU cost over 10 times more than domestic short messages (SMS), show figures released today by the European Commission.
Press Pack 8 (4 October 2007): Roaming: Consumer prices now reduced by 60%: Consumers in the European Union have been paying up to 60% less for using their mobile phone abroad since this summer. The transition to the Eurotarrif by Europe's mobile phone operators is proceeding according to plan. This is the result of a study carried out by the 27 national telecom regulators – united in the European Regulators Group (ERG) – in collaboration with the European Commission.
Press Pack 7 (23 May 2007): Commission welcomes political agreement to cap mobile roaming charges in Europe as from summer: Today, the European Parliament, in its plenary session in Strasbourg, voted with a strong majority in favour of an EU Regulation to substantially reduce the charges for using mobile phones abroad.
Press Pack 6 (12 April 2007): "Roaming Vote in the European Parliament: "The bell is now tolling for international roaming charges in Europe" (Commissioner Viviane Reding): This morning, the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee voted on the Commission's proposal of 12 May 2006 for an EU Regulation to reduce international mobile roaming charges by up to 70% by this summer...
Press Pack 5 (7 November 2006): "I’d rather switch it off": High roaming charges are deterring Europeans from using their mobile phone abroad, says new Commission survey: Mobile roaming charges continue to be very high in Europe. This is shown by a Europe-wide survey, published by Eurobarometer on 7 November...
Press Pack 4 (12 July 2006): Commission proposes to cap the high cost of using mobiles when travelling within the EU: An EU regulation that would cut the cost of using mobile phones abroad by up to 70% was tabled by the Commission on 12 July ...
Press Pack 3 (28 March 2006): Commissioner Reding outlines proposal for an EU regulation to bring down prices and presents new figures: Excessive charges for using your mobile phone abroad could soon belong to the past. The European Commission’s updated website of international roaming charges, unveiled on 28 March, adds further weight to its proposal to bring down these charges by means of an EU regulation ...
Press Pack 2 (4 October 2005): Commission launches consumer website on the costs of mobile roaming in Europe: The European Commission launched on 4 October a new website which aims to help consumers get a better deal when using their mobile phones abroad. For this purpose, the website makes public roaming tariffs from the operators in all 25 EU Member States. The launch of this site was signalled in July ...
Press Pack 1 (11 July 2005): Commission warns consumers on cost of using mobile phone abroad and targets lack of price transparency: As the peak holiday season approaches everywhere in Europe, the European Commission is warning consumers about the high cost of using their mobile phones while abroad. Known as “international roaming charges”, these prices have been for some time already a concern both to the Commission and national regulators ...

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