Roaming charges are never fun, especially if you’re roaming without the use of a worldwide phone carrier and opt for a national one instead. Well, this may not be a problem much longer, at least for Europe, according to a report picked up from ABC News.
The report states that European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes told Europe’s Parliament that roaming fees should “cease to exist” by next year and carriers should be forced to stop charging customers for using their data services while roaming across the continent.
This wouldn’t be the first time Europe has lead the world in the fight against outstanding roaming fees. Last year — a year ago today in fact — the EU Commission voted in favor of lower roaming rates that took effect on July 1.
Still, while lowering these charges helped, the cost for data roaming fees in the region is still rising quickly. By abolishing these fees, Kroes says both companies and customers stand to benefit. While customers would surely be for this deal, one does wonder what kind of economic impact such a dramatic change would have on companies in the region. What do you think?