Browsing in the EU, up to 11.60 euros per Mb
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2025 6:00 am
The operators included in FACUA's analysis of roaming data rates are Movistar, Vodafone and Orange in Spain; Orange and SFR (Vodafone) in France; Vodafone, Wind, Tim and 3 in Italy; and O2 (Movistar), Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile in the United Kingdom.
The highest prices that companies apply by default per Mb when browsing roaming within the EU are 11.60 euros for Movistar Spain, 9.22 for Orange France and 9.01 for Vodafone Italy. In non-EU countries and on other continents, rates are generally much higher.
The European Regulation
Regulation (EC) 544/2009 of the European architect data Parliament and of the Council of 18 June (if you download it in .pdf with mobile Internet in roaming it can cost you more than 10 euros) has imposed maximum rates in the wholesale data market, under which since July companies only have to pay the operators of the country where the service is provided 1.00 euro plus indirect taxes for each megabyte of data transmitted. That is, between five and ten times less than what the three main operators in Spain charge their customers.
The Regulation states that, from July 2009, every time a customer enters an EU Member State and starts a data service for the first time, his or her carrier is obliged to send him or her free of charge personalised basic information about the applicable tariffs. The Regulation states that this information “shall be sent to the roaming customer’s phone or other mobile device, for example by SMS, by email or by opening a pop-up window on his or her computer.”
On the other hand, from July 2010 all companies will be obliged to set a default billing limit of 50 euros plus taxes per monthly billing period for data services within the EU, which can be increased at the request of users. After exceeding this limit, the service will be cut off and if this does not happen, users will be able to exercise their right not to pay the amounts that exceed this limit.
The highest prices that companies apply by default per Mb when browsing roaming within the EU are 11.60 euros for Movistar Spain, 9.22 for Orange France and 9.01 for Vodafone Italy. In non-EU countries and on other continents, rates are generally much higher.
The European Regulation
Regulation (EC) 544/2009 of the European architect data Parliament and of the Council of 18 June (if you download it in .pdf with mobile Internet in roaming it can cost you more than 10 euros) has imposed maximum rates in the wholesale data market, under which since July companies only have to pay the operators of the country where the service is provided 1.00 euro plus indirect taxes for each megabyte of data transmitted. That is, between five and ten times less than what the three main operators in Spain charge their customers.
The Regulation states that, from July 2009, every time a customer enters an EU Member State and starts a data service for the first time, his or her carrier is obliged to send him or her free of charge personalised basic information about the applicable tariffs. The Regulation states that this information “shall be sent to the roaming customer’s phone or other mobile device, for example by SMS, by email or by opening a pop-up window on his or her computer.”
On the other hand, from July 2010 all companies will be obliged to set a default billing limit of 50 euros plus taxes per monthly billing period for data services within the EU, which can be increased at the request of users. After exceeding this limit, the service will be cut off and if this does not happen, users will be able to exercise their right not to pay the amounts that exceed this limit.