Mobile phone costs to fall

Local holidaymakers may soon pay less to use their mobile phones abroad if an EU initiative to force mobile phone companies to cut international charges is successful.

Using a mobile phone outside the UK is notoriously expensive, and many people do not realise the costs until they get their next bill.

Proposals by the European Commission to slash the cost of using mobile phones abroad for text and data could become law next July. These follow on from EU moves last year that cut the cost of mobile calls abroad.

The cost of sending a message is expected to fall by 60% from an average of 23p to 9p and customers would be able to set limits on data downloads.

North West Euro-MP Chris Davies has welcomed any moves to reduce the cost to business and leisure users of mobiles across the EU.

The Liberal Democrat MEP said: "For UK consumers, the cost of sending a text message when abroad often is as high as 41p per text. Compared with just 4p with a Latvian mobile phone user, this is scandalous.

"When you factor in that the actual cost to the operator is less than 1p it is hard to feel any sympathy with the industry. Once again, action at EU level has greatly benefited the consumer"