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: 1) by WildWombat on Wednesday February 19 2014, @04:55AM
I was under the impression that the EU cell phone market is already close to 100% saturation. Where are these 300 million additional customers going to come from?
(Score: 1) by isostatic on Wednesday February 19 2014, @07:24AM
I have 4 devices that can take a simcard. A cheap PAYG phone for emergencies, which is left turned off. My normal phone, which I have a roaming deal at £70/200MB outside europe, 300MB inside Europe, a sim card in my laptop, which I don't use internationally, and an ipad, which I don't even have a sim card in.
Without roaming charges I'd probably put a simcard in the ipad, and use my laptop one abroad.
Phone Calls are the killed though. £1.80 per minute in many countries.
(Score: 3, Informative) by girlwhowaspluggedout on Wednesday February 19 2014, @07:35AM
Soylent is the best disinfectant.
(Score: 1) by rufty on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:00PM
Only one mobile per customer???