Saj Karim MEP on the end of mobile roaming charges

The end is in sight for mobile roaming charges – Sajjad Karim, MEP for the North West, writes:

 
 
"An agreement between the European Commission, Council and Parliament was recently reached that will phase out data roaming charges across Europe within two years. The deal is great news for consumers and travellers.
 
This long overdue settlement means that charges will be significantly cut next summer and from June 15, 2017, we will pay the same price for calls, texts and mobile data irrespective of whether at home or travelling in the EU.
 
I and my Conservative colleagues in the European Parliament have been pushing for this. It’s been a tough battle but now we have an agreement to end this unfair practice that we’ve been trying to get rid of for so long and it removes another barrier to a true single digital market in Europe, helping Britain be more competitive which is good news for consumer and businesses.
 
The ‘Telecoms Single Market’ package has to be ratified by ministers and the European Parliament and does contain some areas of concern. Particularly a provision that telecoms operators have to treat all internet traffic equally with blocking only allowed for specific reasons, such as counter cyber-attacks or child pornography. This should benefit small companies as service providers can no longer give priority to big multi-nationals and our team worked overnight to ensure specific exemptions for spam filtering and parental controls can be brought in by national governments until the end of 2016 to pass legislation.
 
This will eliminate the fear of returning from holiday with to a bill you didn’t expect and can’t afford. Now we will be able to use our phones and tablets more regularly when travelling, also providing more opportunities for online businesses to provide services to travellers across the EU."
 
Sajjad Haider Karim MEP
Conservative MEP for the North West of England 

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