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: 4, Informative) by epl on Wednesday February 19 2014, @10:10AM
I live about 5-7minutes (depending on traffic) from the border and roaming is a total and utter BITCH.
Some telcos used to offer special packages for people that live very close to the border; it boiled down to you paying about 1.5x normal rate and getting two home countries in return. It wasn't a spectacular deal, but it sure beats the current situation where after a 15 minute bike ride I get no data at all and if the phone rings I have to think really hard if I am willing to accept the call.
WORST thing is the network in both countries is owned by the exact same company!