EU finally kills off cellphone roaming charges - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE][B]It's been called a victory for the European Union - a sign that Brussels can protect its citizens from exploitation by telecommunications companies - after all, the world needs multinational legislation to counter the power of multinational corporations. [/B]But lobby observers say that those corporations, particularly from Germany and Spain, have worked to water down the new rules. A decade of compromises, delays, negotiations and re-negotiations will finally end on June 15, when mobile roaming charges will be abolished across the bloc. That means that EU-based phone users will pay the same for calls, texts, using the internet and downloads when they travel to another EU country as when they are at home.[/QUOTE] [URL]http://www.dw.com/en/eu-finally-kills-off-cellphone-roaming-charges/a-39240855[/URL] :joy:

Holy shit, I assume little old England wont actually be able to stay a part of this once we leave? :saddowns:

Got a mail about the change on the 9th already, article says 15th but the mail said they already go away here on the 13th (so yesterday). [QUOTE]But there are holes in this new "roam like at home" world. For one thing, telecommunications operators are still allowed to set caps on high-speed flat-rate internet use abroad.[/QUOTE] It also mentioned that the flat they sell does not count outside of Germany, so you still have to get an additional package if you want that outside of your home country. Still a great thing.

Cell Phone companies claim this would dramatically increase the usual price of phone plans - I'm gonna go ahead and say that it won't be all that significant, but let's see what happens. Other than that concern, this is really a nice QoL.

I haven't noticed prices increasing -yet- I've recently switched over to Tele2, and they have actually introduced cheaper contracts just after the announcement of EU roaming costs getting dropped. I've got 100 calls / texts and 5GB for just 14 euros a month.

Yes. No more 100€ surprise bills because you accidentally turned on roaming for 1 second in Spain.

[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;52357529]Cell Phone companies claim this would dramatically increase the usual price of phone plans - I'm gonna go ahead and say that it won't be all that significant, but let's see what happens. Other than that concern, this is really a nice QoL.[/QUOTE] Of course they would say that

Shouldn't that mean that the prices for mobile data should even out? For example you get 3gb for about 15€ here but iirc in Poland you can get like 20gb for the same price

[QUOTE=Plaster;52357663]Shouldn't that mean that the prices for mobile data should even out? For example you get 3gb for about 15€ here but iirc in Poland you can get like 20gb for the same price[/QUOTE] I thought so too considering subscriptions are ludicrously priced in Belgium compared to France, but apparently you have to show proof of residency within the country you're getting your subscription from. I guess you could always make an arrangement with a foreign friend, but that's certainly not going to be a widespread movement that will make the prices even out.

Seems like they decided on it quite a while ago because I got a mail about this from my provider last month, oddly they seem to have honoured it quite early because I went to France and faced no charges at all. At the same time they boosted my plan from 4gb to 12gb for the same price so I guess I can say its a win so far.

Would this mean you could conceivably get a plan with a provider not in your country, and effectively just be abroad all the time?

[QUOTE=QwertySecond;52357837]Would this mean you could conceivably get a plan with a provider not in your country, and effectively just be abroad all the time?[/QUOTE] IIRC if you spend above a certain amount of data abroad, the service provider reserves the right to contact you and ensure you are following "the spirit of the law" ie not using a foreign subscription in a country you are a permanent resident of. That's still kinda vague thought, not sure how it would work in practice.

[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;52357529]Cell Phone companies claim this would dramatically increase the usual price of phone plans - I'm gonna go ahead and say that it won't be all that significant, but let's see what happens. Other than that concern, this is really a nice QoL.[/QUOTE] They actually did increase it by some 30% here now. Which feels pretty shit, since I rarely use roaming anyway.

[QUOTE=_Axel;52357842]IIRC if you spend above a certain amount of data abroad, the service provider reserves the right to contact you and ensure you are following "the spirit of the law" ie not using a foreign subscription in a country you are a permanent resident of. That's still kinda vague thought, not sure how it would work in practice.[/QUOTE] As with many laws it probably relies on most people not being assholes and using this law as it should be rather than taking advantage of it. Flagrant offenders should hopefully be rare enough that they can be easily dealt with.

Fucking finally. No longer do you have to rent a shitty and outdated gps when traveling through Europe.

By the way, if I remember correctyl, the first calls to remove this were made in [I]2006.[/I]

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;52357852]Fucking finally. No longer do you have to rent a shitty and outdated gps when traveling through Europe.[/QUOTE] You could download areas ahead of time on Gmaps though, unless I'm mistaken?

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;52357852]Fucking finally. No longer do you have to rent a shitty and outdated gps when traveling through Europe.[/QUOTE] GPS doesn't use network and I know at least Here Maps has been able to download maps in advance, though? Sure, this is more convenient, but it's been possible for a long time.

Now we got new really shitty packages from service providers so everything still sucks. At least in the long run this will be a good change.

Fantastic timing! Going to the Canary Islands in 2 weeks.

So now I can call a polish friend of mine or is just limited to calls to other Italian (in my case) phones?

[QUOTE=MarcusSmith;52358146]So now I can call a polish friend of mine or is just limited to calls to other Italian (in my case) phones?[/QUOTE] I think it only applies to calls where you're on foreign land. Like say if you were to call in Italy while in Poland you wouldn't have to pay extra, but if you were to do the opposite you would. Not sure if the nationality on the receiving end matters, you're using the same network regardless.

[QUOTE=_Axel;52357887]You could download areas ahead of time on Gmaps though, unless I'm mistaken?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=GoDong-DK;52357890]GPS doesn't use network and I know at least Here Maps has been able to download maps in advance, though? Sure, this is more convenient, but it's been possible for a long time.[/QUOTE] True, but it is pretty gimped and you can't search for stuff around you if I remember correctly, like restaurants etc.

[QUOTE=_Axel;52357685]I thought so too considering subscriptions are ludicrously priced in Belgium compared to France, but apparently you have to show proof of residency within the country you're getting your subscription from. I guess you could always make an arrangement with a foreign friend, but that's certainly not going to be a widespread movement that will make the prices even out.[/QUOTE] could you buy a prepaid plan from france?

[QUOTE=Zezibesh;52358346]could you buy a prepaid plan from france?[/QUOTE] Not sure, I'm French so that doesn't really affect me, I'm just going off what my colleagues told me.

The carrier we use (company shares usage) recently quadrupled our in-border data transfer to 60GB and added an extra 15GB for EU data, all without changing the price. Though I'm [I]sure[/I] they did that just because they're [I]so darn nice[/I].

i had a trip out of country recently and left roaming and data on, used the internet and made calls as if at home and got the exact same bill as every month. Feels pretty good.

[QUOTE=LuckyLuke;52357524]Holy shit, I assume little old England wont actually be able to stay a part of this once we leave? :saddowns:[/QUOTE] Part of leaving the EU is that all the all the legislation and protocols that exist during the leaving process need to be converted into UK laws. That said that doesn't mean our government would keep this ruling.

[QUOTE=Murkrow;52358477]The carrier we use (company shares usage) recently quadrupled our in-border data transfer to 60GB and added an extra 15GB for EU data, all without changing the price. Though I'm [I]sure[/I] they did that just because they're [I]so darn nice[/I].[/QUOTE] Was this Telemach or Telekom? I know the latter did that after Telemach went aggressive af.

It's a big improvement for calls and text messages which will be the same as your home country, but at least with Finnish operators there's still some extra charges for internet data usage, an "EU-payment" they call it here. You get approx 1-8 GB (depends on your plan) of cheap roaming (5,7€ per GB) which is considered "moderate" roaming, and once you pass that limit it goes to 9,5€ per GB. For example my plan has unlimited data in Finland, so if I go abroad I'll get approx 600 MB of free roaming and after that 8 GB of 5,7€/GB "moderate use" after which it goes to 9,5€/GB. It used to be 10x that price, but 9,5€/GB is still quite pricey.