The European Union will scrap roaming charges for mobile phone users within the bloc under proposals to create a single European telecoms market, the Daily Telegraph has reported.

The European Commissioners have voted to drive the package through in time for the European elections in May next year, to come into force as soon as 1 July 2014, the newspaper said, quoting its unidentified sources.

Officials will draw up and publish detailed proposals in the next six weeks.

The EU ushered in steep cuts in roaming charges last year.

Mobile internet users were the biggest winners, with the cost of one megabyte of data being capped for the first time at 70c plus VAT – meaning savings of up to 70 per cent for Maltese consumers. Caps on roaming prices were first introduced in 2007, with further reductions in 2009.

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