MEPs approve ending roaming charges by mid

Also, the end in European Union citizens’ bank secrecy in Switzerland, to be voted on Tuesday, aims to make it harder for European Union citizens to hide their incomes from tax authorities.

He said: “If this regulation change isn’t properly managed, higher mobile phone bills for all may just prove to be the sting in the tail, with infrequent travellers drawing the short straw”.

From the end of April next year, the fees are being reduced as part of a transitional period.

Mrs Dodds said: “This is an issue I have been working on since being elected and I am delighted that colleagues in the European Parliament have voted by an overwhelming majority to scrap EU roaming charges once and for all”.

The costs of roaming are already set to be cut in April next year, and it won’t be until the middle of 2017 that the roaming charges will be completely abolished.

Telecoms providers in a few countries are allowed to prioritise traffic and bandwidth to certain websites, and other sites can be given “zero ratings”, meaning they can be accessed without using up a customer’s data quota.

Roaming charges are finally be banned across the EU but mobile phone users will have to wait until the middle of June 2017 before they can use their phones with impunity anywhere in the union.

The party’s outspoken MEP Roger Helmer tabled an amendment to kill the proposals, claiming that eliminating roaming charges will drive up bills overall.

“A real zero-roaming Europe hinges on a major telecom market reform, which is a mammoth task to achieve”, said Monique Goyens of BEUC.

Once agreements are in place, it could take the European mobile phone operator market one step closer to being free of its current geographic restrictions. And for foreign visitors travelling among the EU countries, this will also lower their budget if they use a SIM card provided by European operators.

However, the abolishment of roaming charges was not met with universal approval.

Meanwhile, the European Telecommunications and Network Operators’ Association, which represents industry interests, warned that the new rules must not distort national markets or prevent companies from recovering their costs.