Theweek.co.uk - UK holidaymakers travelling to Europe will no longer face hefty bills to use the internet on their smartphones, after European authorities finally reached agreement on proposals for a single telecoms market across the continent.
Under new rules announced yesterday by the European Commission after two years of talks, "roaming" charges applied to internet use outside an individual's home country will be abolished within the European Union from June 2017.
From April next year interim measures come into force which will reduce surcharges to five cents (4p) per minute for calls or megabyte of internet data and two cents per text message, which the Commission says reduces the maximum charge by around 75 per cent compared to current caps.
That is a big difference from the current system under which, The Guardian reports, operators can charge travellers 19 cents a minute for calls, six cents per text message, and 20 cents per megabyte of data on top of their normal tariff.
The new rules also include provisions to ensure "net neutrality", which will prevent operators prioritising domestic internet traffic above overseas visitors, resulting in poor download speeds.
The BBC notes there are caveats in place that allow providers to provide higher-quality connections for specialist services such as internet television, so long as this does not compromise the overall quality of traffic for others.
Internet service providers will also be allowed to 'throttle' traffic where this is in the public interest, for example to combat the proliferation of images of child sexual abuse or in the event of a terrorist attack.
The news was generally welcomed, although some bemoaned conditions which "water down" the neutrality proposals.
Ernest Doku of uSwitch.com told website Telecoms.com that as the deal still needs to be approved by the European Parliament there remains a danger of "backtracking". He cited an earlier deal to end roaming charges by 2015, which was subsequently reversed.
Under new rules announced yesterday by the European Commission after two years of talks, "roaming" charges applied to internet use outside an individual's home country will be abolished within the European Union from June 2017.
From April next year interim measures come into force which will reduce surcharges to five cents (4p) per minute for calls or megabyte of internet data and two cents per text message, which the Commission says reduces the maximum charge by around 75 per cent compared to current caps.
That is a big difference from the current system under which, The Guardian reports, operators can charge travellers 19 cents a minute for calls, six cents per text message, and 20 cents per megabyte of data on top of their normal tariff.
The new rules also include provisions to ensure "net neutrality", which will prevent operators prioritising domestic internet traffic above overseas visitors, resulting in poor download speeds.
The BBC notes there are caveats in place that allow providers to provide higher-quality connections for specialist services such as internet television, so long as this does not compromise the overall quality of traffic for others.
Internet service providers will also be allowed to 'throttle' traffic where this is in the public interest, for example to combat the proliferation of images of child sexual abuse or in the event of a terrorist attack.
The news was generally welcomed, although some bemoaned conditions which "water down" the neutrality proposals.
Ernest Doku of uSwitch.com told website Telecoms.com that as the deal still needs to be approved by the European Parliament there remains a danger of "backtracking". He cited an earlier deal to end roaming charges by 2015, which was subsequently reversed.
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