Only one in every 10 Maltese who travels to another EU member state regularly uses their mobile phone.
The majority, 85 per cent, are too scared of receiving a hefty bill and limit the use of their phone, according to a Eurobarometer survey published yesterday.
The results, which are similar to those across the EU, were used by the European Commission to emphasise the need for a truly single telecoms market by 2016 that will eliminate roaming rates.
Nine per cent of Maltese said they switched off their mobile phone completely when travelling, according to the survey conducted in Malta by Misco among a scientific sample of 500 respondents.
Another 25 per cent activated a special data roaming plan offered by their home network, which automatically limited their mobile use.
Consumers are limiting their phone use in extreme ways
Of the 75 per cent of Maltese respondents who said they travelled at least once every two years to another member state, 19 per cent said they switched off any data roaming facilities when in another country, while 12 per cent bought a SIM card from the country they visited.
The survey also showed that 27 per cent never went abroad.
The EU is currently pushing for legislation to create a single market when making a phone call or browsing the internet.
The aim is to achieve a combination of regulatory obligations and market incentives which would mean mobile operators extending their domestic plans/bundles so that by 2016 at the latest, customers throughout the EU will be able to use their phones at domestic rates while travelling in member states.
Under rules adopted in 2012, customers will, from July, also have the right to leave their domestic operator when travelling to take up cheaper roaming services from an operator in the place they are visiting, or from a rival roaming provider in their home country, without changing their SIM card.
Reacting to the survey, which revealed 94 per cent of EU citizens limit their use of mobile phones when travelling, EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Nellie Kroes said she was shocked.
“This shows we have to finish the job and eliminate roaming charges. Consumers are limiting their phone use in extreme ways and this makes no sense,” she said.
Roaming costs are limiting business, according to the Commission.
Brussels calculates that telecom companies are missing out on a €300 million market of phone users because of current pricing strategies, with knock-on effects for other businesses such as app makers.