Fone Forum

Mobile Network Operator 3 has updated its pricing structure for data, voice and text services across Europe, 24 hours before the European Union price cap rules come into play.

All mobile phone networks operating in the European Union have to comply with the new EU regulation with regards to limiting the maximum roaming costs and 3 introduced the new prices before everyone, saying that it will offer the lowest data roaming charges in the EU of any British operator.

Customers on 3 Network will pay 34p per minute for call made within the EU to the UK while calls received in the EU (excluding UK) will be charged at 15p per minute.  Texts sent to the UK from EU will be charged at 11p compared to receiving them for free across Europe.

Data usage while in Europe will be charged at £1.25 per Megabyte which is four times less than Virgin Mobile.  But the rest of 3's charges either closely match or are marginally better than its competitors.  For example, Orange undercuts it on texts and calls sent to the UK from EU countries.

Source:-   ITProPortal (http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2009/6/30/3-cuts-european-roaming-costs-ahead-deadline/#9w?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Vodafone%20To%20Acquire%20T-Mobile%20For%20£3.4%20Billion?%20Windows%207%20OEM%20SKUs%20Available%20For%20Sale%20Now,%20Start%20From%20£91%20|%20SIM%20Free%20HTC%20Hero%20Android%20Phone%20Goes%20On%20Sale%20For%20£399.99&utm_campaign=Vodafone%20To%20Acquire%20T-Mobile%20For%20£3.4%20Billion?%20Windows%207%20OEM%20SKUs%20Available%20For%20Sale%20Now,%20Start%20From%20£91%20|%20SIM%20Free%20HTC%20Hero%20Android%20Phone%20Goes%20On%20Sale%20For%20£399.99)

Their Comments:-

If you plan to make roaming costs over the next few months in summer, Vodafone will still offer the best price as it won't be charging anything for its customers roaming across Europe.  3's charge for surfing the web while roaming is still quite high at £1.25 per MB, compared to £1 per GB in the UK.