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Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has announced that he has signed new regulations that will further combat excessive roaming fees imposed on mobile service users while travelling elsewhere in the EU. The regulations will enable ComReg to use all its investigative and enforcement powers to oblige mobile telephone service providers to implement retail price reductions required by the EU Roaming Regulations.

From 1 July 2013, the EU’s Roaming Regulation will lower the price caps for data downloads by 36%, making it much cheaper to use maps, watch videos, check emails and update social networks while travelling across the EU. Data roaming will now be up to 91% cheaper compared to 2007. During this period the volume of the data roaming market has grown 630%. The EU Regulation has introduced per megabyte price limits of €0.70 per megabyte from July 2012, which reduces to €0.45 on July 1st next and reduces further to €0.20 in July 2014.

Commenting on the reductions Minister Rabbitte said:

Data roaming is where the most extreme cases of bill shock are likely to occur. The introduction of a maximum retail charge for data, which will fall by more than 300% in two years, will ensure better value for customers. The bill-shock provision, which requires service providers to suspend data services when the bill in any month reaches either €50 or pre-determined amount, will ensure an end to extreme bill–shocks for those returning from abroad.

Read the full press release

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