EU fetes end of roaming charges but risks linger for travellers

BRUSSELS: Roaming charges for using mobile phones when travelling within the European Union disappear on Thursday, capping a decade-long battle by Brussels to show increasingly sceptical Europeans it can make their lives better.

Yet for all the excitement it is generating within European Union institutions, opt-outs secured by major telecoms firms and member states’ refusal to give up their lucrative national airwaves may leave many holidaymakers disappointed this summer – and facing higher bills at home.

Ending the practice of adding hefty charges to surf the internet, call or send texts when abroad within the EU has been a cause celebre for the European Commission and Parliament which saw it as an affront to common market ideals.

“The European Union is about bringing people together and making their lives easier. The end of roaming charges is a true European success story,” the institutions said on Wednesday.

The Commission draped a victory banner down its Berlaymont headquarters reading ‘Goodbye roaming fees’.

The change in legislation finally passed several months ago was certainly welcomed by some visitors to Brussels.

“I think it’s excellent,” said Charlie Wild, a musician from Scotland. “I’ve been in Europe for two weeks spending three pounds (US$3.80) a day to be able to use my phone, and tomorrow I don’t have to, and it’s great.”

Julie DuBlanc, visiting from France for work, said, “We’ll be checking our phones more often, as we would in Paris.”

But she may need to be careful. The project has faced numerous setbacks as mobile phone operators have lobbied to maintain what has been a significant source of revenue while the realities of a fragmented telecoms market have confounded politicians’ efforts to do away with the charges.

The snag was that while customers can no longer by law be asked to pay extra when using phones abroad, operators still face wholesale fees from the foreign networks that connect them.