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girlwhowaspluggedout writes:
"The European Commission reports that, fearing high roaming charges, many EU citizens forgo the use of their mobile phones outside their home country. According to a survey done by the Commission (pdf), when travelling to another EU country, 90% of all EU citizens limit their e-mail use, 47% do not use their mobile internet connection, 33% never place calls, 25% do not text, and a staggering 28% simply turn off their mobile phones.
Roaming charges, the Commission suggests, are hurting the fledgling EU app sector. In trying to avoid paying data premiums, travelers limit their use of data-heavy apps, like travel guides, maps, and photo applications. Frequent travelers are even more likely to turn-off their phones, perhaps due to being better informed about the costs of data roaming.
The Commission reports that data roaming use across the EU has increased by 1500% since the introduction of price caps in 2008. It suggests that by eliminating all roaming charges, mobile providers will gain a further 300 million customers. These findings give further support to regulations proposed by the Commission that will create a single mobile phone market throughout the EU, enabling all customers to enjoy domestic rates when travelling within the EU."
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Nobuddy on Wednesday February 19 2014, @02:12AM
AFIAK it is a matter of ripping each other off. It is hard for Provider X to give free roaming if providers Y and Z charge them for their customers using their networks. And vice versa, giving free roaming to their customers means your competition makes a larger profit from your actions because we all know they will charge those customers anyway.
I am from the USA, and when I travel in the EU I tend to carry several SIM cards and pop in the one that fits my current location. This is, sadly, the most cost effective way to do it.