Europe has agreed a final proposal to scrap roaming charges altogether across the continent, as well as new rules on net neutrality. The extra charges applied to your account for using your mobile phone abroad will be scrapped by June 2017, although a fair use policy will be put in place.
To help soften the blow before the charges are scrapped, said fees will be capped at five cents per MB of data, calls and two cents per SMS from April 2016. The EU has decided not to follow the US and apply stricter rules on net neutrality. Instead, the EU will allow specialized services (such as streaming for TV) so long as they do not hinder other customers using the same network.
This means telecom companies will need to treat all data being transferred across networks as equal, but there are exceptions where action can be taken. The final text will be sent to European Parliament and member states, but it's expected to be a smooth process. Overall, good news for consumers, especially regarding said roaming fees.
Source: FT
