EU votes to abolish roaming charges
Irish people may soon be able to make calls from anywhere in the EU for the same cost as a call in Ireland.
The European Parliament today voted to abolish the extra costs, after years of protracted negotiations with mobile phone companies across Europe.
The Bill must pass a final hurdle before it becomes law: approval by national politicians at a Council of the European Union meeting later this year.
European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said: "Nearly all of us depend on mobile and internet connections as part of our daily lives.
"We should know what we are buying, we should not be ripped-off, and we should have the opportunity to change our mind".
"Companies should have the chance to serve all of us, and this regulation makes it easier for them to do that. It's win-win."
EU Member States will now continue to review the regulation - and the Commission expects final agreement by the end of 2014.
This was originally proposed by the EU Commission in September 2013, and is aimed at creating a single telecoms market in the EU.
"We've been working for the past five years to progressively eliminate roaming charges - so for an Irish person traveling abroad, it means no more roaming after next year," said Peter Power, from the EU office in Dublin.
"So they can make telephone calls from any European country at the same price as they would make it if they were making the call here in Ireland."
Mobile phone operators hit out at the bid to ban roaming charges.
“Europe’s telecoms operators are facing decreasing revenues ... compared with operators in the US and Asia,” said the GSM Association, an industry group for mobile phone companies.
In a statement signed by director Anne Bouverot, the group said European laws are “impairing their ability to invest in the infrastructure required to put Europe back on the path to growth and jobs”.
“Now the pressure turns to European leaders to listen to the people – not Vodafone, Orange, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica,” said Luis Morago of activist group Avaaz.
