Britons set to ‘call time’ on roaming charges

With the EU having voted on plans to reduce the roaming costs of using a mobile phone abroad, SimplySwitch.com, the price comparison service, reveals over a staggering three quarters (77%) of British mobile owners, 33.9 million people, don’t know how much they currently pay for making or receiving calls abroad.

With a four minute call often exceeding eight pounds and international travel at an all time high, UK mobile users are suffering at the hands of the operators who are said to be making £5.7bn profit a year through roaming charges.

In addition, a quarter (25%) of Britons place ‘extra charges’ as top of their operator criticisms and almost two thirds (63%) claim that an offer of a better tariff would cause them to switch providers. So, the race is now on for mobile phone companies to provide the best rates.

Karen Darby from SimplySwitch.com, comments : “The European Commission wants the necessary price cuts in place by the summer but the decision could take much longer as the bill will need to be approved by the EU nations. Until this time we strongly advise people to really scrutinise their current package and if necessary, switch phone providers”.