Cellphone roaming charges end for Europeans
After a decade of debate, Europe will finally abolish cellphone roaming charges this week, allowing people from Britain to Bulgaria to call, send text messages and surf the web without incurring eye-watering charges when travelling across the 28-nation bloc.
The landmark policy shift, which comes into force Thursday, arrives as Europe faces pressure to speed up the overhaul of its wider digital economy to keep pace with the likes of the United States and China.
But many are wondering why the region’s policy-makers took 10 years — and invested significant political capital — to end roaming charges when it is not a daily concern for many of Europe’s 500 million citizens.
Europe’s decade-long struggle to end cellphone roaming charges began before the original iPhone was released. But it involved often bitter lobbying between the region’s cellular operators and consumer groups over how much people should pay to use their phones internationally. The changes will affect only people with European cellphone contracts, meaning North Americans and others travelling in the region will still face costly charges.
The move is part of broader efforts to unite the region digitally.
Under proposals that include things such as overhauling people’s online privacy rights and allowing individuals to watch digital content from national broadcasters while outside their home countries, the creation of a digital single market has become a crucial pillar to Europe’s economic growth.
The goal, according to policymakers, is to give Europeans simple and unfettered access to services such as movie streaming, online shopping and cloud computing no matter where they live.
Critics, pointing to data showing that a minority of Europeans regularly travel beyond their national borders, say the changes may offer limited benefit to most Europeans’ daily online activities.