10 year battle over as EU scraps mobile roaming fees

Mobile users in the European Union won't have to pay roaming fees from Thursday, after additional charges for calling, texting and browsing when connected to local networks within the bloc were scrapped.

The change, which comes ahead of the summer holiday season, is the result of a decade-long battle by Brussels to show that the EU can improve lives.

A banner featuring the end of roaming charges on the European Commission headquarters building in Brussels, Belgium on June 15, 2017. /VCG Photo

"The European Union is about bringing people together and making their lives easier. The end of roaming charges is a true European success story," the EU said in a statement on Wednesday.

"From now on, citizens who travel within the EU will be able to call, text and connect on their mobile devices at the same price as they pay at home," it added.

The end of lucrative roaming fees is expected to cost telecom operators 1.2 billion euros (about 1.3 billion US dollars), according to estimates by Brussels.

But in recent years, the share of roaming fees in operators' revenues has declined sharply, as charges for calls and text messages dropped by 90 percent since 2007 and data charges went down by 96 percent since 2012 under EU regulations, an AFP report said, citing official figures.

Roaming charges within the EU have been scrapped ahead of the summer holiday season. /VCG Photo

"The end of roaming charges is at the foundation of the EU's Digital Single Market and is another step towards building a united and sustainable European digital society, accessible for all our citizens," the EU statement said.

After the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU, its future government will have to decide whether the EU's regulations on roaming will still apply, a BBC report said.

China's three telecom operators have announced that they will stop charging fees for domestic long-distance calls and roaming from October 1, 2017. /VCG Photo

The EU is not the only part of the world to see roaming charges slowly start to disappear.

China's three telecom operators – China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom – announced in March that they would stop charging fees for domestic long-distance calls and roaming from October 1.

They also lowered roaming charges in countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative on May 1.

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