New EU regulations come in to force today which will put a cap on the costs of mobile calls, texts and internet prices in Europe. The latest cuts are welcome but there's still some way to go, especially to reach a reasonable cost for data while roaming on the continent.
The new maximum costs when using a mobile phone in Europe are as follows;
- Calls: 21p per minute (was 25p)
- Text Messages: 7p per message (was 8p)
- Data: 39p per megabyte (was 60p)
While you are roaming you must also remember you will get charged to receive a call, this cost has been reduced to a maximum of 6p a minute. The data costs might seem very high but they are dropped quite significantly, previously the cap was set at 60p per megabyte.
The biggest difference you will find in roaming charges today are if you are visiting Croatia, reports the BBC. Today Croatia joins the EU and roaming costs for visitors there will be massively reduced.
Three's new 321 'back to basics' PAYG tariff
Three UK have an interesting new pay-as-you-go (PAYG) tariff being cued up for launch. Instead of giving you a pre-set combination of minutes, texts and data for your £10 top-up you can use it how you like on calls which cost 3p per minute, texts which cost 2p and internet which costs 1p per MB. There will be no time limit on usage of your credit, it just depends on how quickly you go through it. The new tariff is called 321.
Three's marketing director, Thomas Malleschitz, told The Telegraph "The number of complex Pay As You Go tariffs, adds-on and options available is mindboggling. Consumers are forced into choosing where they want best value, whether that's calls, texts or internet. Our new rates strip things right back to basics." Of course Three had their own fair share of mindboggling PAYG tariffs in the past.
Three's single-figure percentage share of the PAYG market is comparatively small and the firm must hope it can make an impact with the new simple 321 tariff. Do readers think this new tariff is will win many converts?
