The European Union will cut the price caps for data downloads by more than half as from July 1 - from 45 cents to 20c per megabyte.
Since the EU introduced caps on data roaming, data consumption has risen dramatically.
Phone calls and text messages will also become cheaper.
Data savings
|
June 2014 |
July 2014 |
Saving |
|
|
1MB |
45 cents exc. VAT |
20 cents exc. VAT |
25 cents |
|
Checking one map 5 times (1 MB per map) |
€2.25 |
€1 |
€1.25 |
|
Checking social media accounts every day for 1/2 hour (+/- 5 MB per day, total 35 MB) |
€15.75 |
€7 |
€8.75 |
|
Uploading one photo every day (+/- 2MB per photo, total 14MB) |
€6.30 |
€2.80 |
€3.50 |
|
Watch the best goals' video on YouTube of 10 minutes every day (+/-5 MB per video, total 35 MB) |
€15.75 |
€7 |
€8.75 |
|
Download 1 World Cup app (+/- 30 MB) |
€13.50 |
€6 |
€7.50 |
|
Browse online news for 10 minutes every day (+/-5MB, total 35 MB) |
€15.75 |
€7 |
€8.75 |
|
Check weather forecast on your app every day (+/- 28 KB, total 0.20 MB) |
€0.09 |
€0.04 |
€0.05 |
|
Total, € |
69.39 |
30.84 |
38.55* |
*During the World Cup in 2010 it would have cost 25 times more (if the average price was €5/MB) = €983.75
Also from July 1, mobile providers in Europe can offer a specific roaming deal before travel and, where available, allow one to choose a local mobile provider for data services such as emailing, reading the news online, uploading photos and watching videos online.
The EU is also working on new rules to eliminate roaming charges altogether.