Holiday texts to cost less
HOLIDAYMAKERS will pay less for using their mobile phones in Europe from today as charges are slashed to a standard rate.
Texts to friends at home from the beaches of Greece, Spain and France will be just 10p.
Caps on “roaming” texts and calls made abroad will end the rip-off charges suffered by tourists in Europe. British customers were previously forced to pay an average 27p per roaming text message.
Tourists will also pay less for making and receiving mobile calls in Europe. Existing price caps go down from 40p to 37p a minute for making a call abroad, or 42.7p including VAT.
Receiving a mobile call falls from 20p a minute to a maximum 16p, or 18.9p including VAT.
Europe Minister Glenys Kinnock said: “The new cap protects British consumers and means we’re not paying over the odds compared to other EU countries.”
Some companies have already cut roaming costs. Vodafone is abolishing roaming fees for texts, calls and picture messages until the end of August.
O2 charges 35p a minute in Europe and 3 charges 34p, both including VAT.