British holidaymakers will pay less for making calls from their mobile phones abroad from today as new EU regulations come into force slashing the amounts phone operators can charge by up to 70 per cent.

Under the new roaming regulations, phone operators will have to offer all customers a Eurotariff, with a maximum charge of 33p plus Vat a minute for making a call anywhere in the EU, while the maximum charge for receiving a call will be 16p plus VAT. All operators across the EU will be required to charge this amount or less and will have to cut their charges further over the next two years.

EU telecom commissioner Viviane Reding said: “At last Europeans can breathe a sigh of relief as the EU roaming regulation finally becomes binding law across all member states. We hope we've now seen the last of excessive roaming charges. I note with satisfaction that some operators are offering the new Eurotariff already as of 1 July."

Customers who do not currently have a roaming deal to use their phones abroad but who ask for one after today will get the cheaper Eurotariff by the end of August. Those who do not ask for a new deal will benefit automatically by the end of September and those who are happy with the cost of calls can stay on their existing tariff by telling their operator. The new regulations do not yet apply to SMS and data-roaming.

The EU acted in response to widespread complaints that phone companies were overcharging customers for calls made abroad. Companies argued that forcing down the cost of overseas calls could threaten reductions in the cost of domestic calls.

Reding warned that the EU would continue to monitor charges for SMS and data-roaming. "I hope that operators now understand the EU's ability to act. My message to them: move now and bring SMS and data roaming charges down quickly, or we will be forced to also intervene there very shortly," she said.

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