Mobile phone companies across the EU, including Malta, will be forced to make more cuts in roaming charges to consumers who use their mobile phone abroad.

It will become much cheaper to call or receive calls from abroad or access data services, now almost a standard feature on smart phones when connecting to the internet. This follows a deal struck between MEPs, member states and the European Commission.

The deal, which still has to be given the green light by MEPs in May, will come into force in July, forcing mobile networks to cut rates on a staggered three-year plan.

The EU’s final aim is to eliminate the differences between using a mobile phone at home or abroad by 2015.

According to the deal, a downloaded megabyte would cost consumers no more than 70c as of July 1, 45c in 2013 and 20c as of July 1, 2014, as requested by the European Parliament’s Industry Committee.

At present there is no price ceiling for mobile data services charged to consumers.

The cost of a one-minute call would not exceed 29c as of July 1 and 19c in July 2014, down from 35c under the current regime.

An SMS would cost 9c as of July 1 and 6c as of July 1, 2014, down from 11c under the current regime.

Charges will also be lowered substantially for receiving calls while abroad.

The EU’s deal is the third in a row obliging mobile network operators to lower their roaming charges as previous attempts to introduce self-regulation did not give any concrete results.

Apart from the new tariffs, the new EU legislation will also introduce an array of other benefits for mobile phone users.

As from July 2014, operators would have to enable customers to buy roaming services separately, thus allowing them to choose alternative service suppliers for roaming while retaining their national operators for domestic use and keeping their national phone numbers.

Home country providers would have to inform their customers of such right and any switch to an alternative roaming service provider would have to be free of charge.

Domestic mobile service suppliers would have to enable customers to access mobile local data services while abroad without having to unsubscribe from their existing data roaming contract or arrangement and also keeping their mobile number.

To boost competition, the EU agreement also proposes facilitating access to the wholesale market for new alternative operators known as mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs.

Current and new retail price caps (excluding VAT)