Millions of expats and business travellers switch off their mobile phones outside their home country because they believe mobile roaming charges are too expensive.
As many as 94% of travellers – which amounts to around 300 million Europeans – either limit or disconnect their mobiles and tablets while on the move for fear of running up huge bills.
Pricing is holding back the mobile phone market in Europe and having a negative impact on technology firms designing apps, according to a study from the European Commission.
Researchers spoke to 28,000 phone users across all 28 European Union countries, including many hotspots for retired British expats and financial centres where many working expats have jobs.
Half won’t use mobile in another country
Although mobile phone and internet use is booming in most countries, most expats and travellers told the commission:
- 47% would access the internet with their mobile in another European Union country
- Only 10% would send emails as often as at home
- More than 25% of travellers switch off our mobiles while travelling in the EU and only carry them for emergencies
- Millions divert to SMS rather than pay for calls
- Frequent travellers are more likely to switch-off data roaming than other travellers because they are better informed about the real costs of data roaming
European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said: “I find these figures shocking. Roaming charges are too expensive and are bad for consumers and bad for technology firms. Phone users capping how they use their phones can’t be good business for their providers either.
“Roaming charges should be consigned to the past, especially in a single market like the European Union. They are just not relevant and are holding back development of the market.”
Make Europe a single mobile market
The research revealed businesses are paying out millions of pounds in roaming charges that have to be made up from higher charges to customers and app makers are losing money because cross-border products are shunned by users because of the expense.
Travel guides, maps and media content for travellers were quoted as app sectors specifically affected by roaming charges, explained Kroes.
The research also found that only 8% of expats and travellers make calls or access the internet in the same way as they would at home, while 30% never make calls.
Kroes is proposing the European Parliament declares the EU as a single market for mobile phones. This would mean scrapping roaming charges and making the cost of calls and using the internet the same across the whole of the EU.
