Mobile roaming EU regulation in force on 1st March

From 1 March 2010, new rules from the EU on mobile roaming charges will be introduced to protect consumers from "bill shocks". A cut-off mechanism will be introduced once the bill reaches €50 unless the customer specifies another cut-off limit.

Commenting on this new regulation, Mike Wilson, mobiles manager at moneysupermarket.com, said: "At long last roaming ‘bill shocks' are set to become a thing of the past - this regulation will make a big difference to how people use their phones abroad and will go a long way to reducing confusion over roaming charges. While it is a shame operators have waited for EU regulation before addressing the problem, a cap should wipe out the cases where people are stung with clearly unreasonable bills, sometimes reaching thousands of pounds, for using their mobile internet abroad.

"As the regulation comes into force Brits have a call to action to speak to their provider and set a realistic cut-off point for their individual circumstances and usage if they are not happy with the €50 limit, which is generally enough to handle emails with attachments, keep up with Twitter and do some browsing. Depending on your provider it may stretch to some light downloading as well.

"Some operators however do offer fairly good deals already when using the internet on your mobile whilst abroad. 3 offers a competitive rate of £1.25 per MB and Orange has just introduced €2 for 2MB."

moneysupermarket.com's top tips for using your phone abroad:

Check with your network that you are on its roaming service, this can save a significant amount of money on your mobile bill

If you do need to use the internet on holiday, check the price per MB before you go and avoid any heavy downloading or streaming

Turn your phone off when you are not using it to avoid being charged to receive calls/ texts

Remember that a quick call can be cheaper than a series of texts

If you regularly visit the same place consider getting a local SIM card