The plans will also lower regulated price caps in place since 2007 that limit how much mobile phone operators can charge EU customers for making and receiving calls while abroad in the 27-nation European Union.
The European Commission, which originally proposed the plans, said they could save EU consumers as much as 60 percent when they use their mobile phones while travelling abroad in the bloc, which is known as roaming.
'The European Parliament has ensured that consumers enjoying a holiday abroad this summer will not be shocked by extortionate phone bills when they return home,' said Monique Goyens, director general of BEUC European consumers association. 'Using your mobile phone abroad should not cost much more then using it in our own country - it is the same technology and in many instances even the same company.'
The main innovation of the package, which builds on 2007 price caps on making calls from abroad, is to limit the price operators can charge customers for sending short text messages via their mobile phones while they are abroad to S22 cents (US14 cents) from July.
The new package also aims to help people who use their mobiles or other hand-held devices to surf the Internet while they are travelling within the EU.
The European Commission has repeatedly warned about the high cost of surfing the Internet over mobile devices while abroad, highlighting the case of one German who was hit with a bill for 46,000 euros (US$59,500) for downloading a television programme while in France. -- AFP
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