Roaming market review: use of mobile phones abroad has surged since end of EU roaming charges

The European Commission has published today the first full review of the roaming market, showing that travellers across the EU have benefitted a lot from the end of roaming charges in June 2017. The use of mobile data while travelling in the EU has increased tenfold compared to the year before roam-like-at-home. Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel said: “The review showcases once again how successful the abolition of roaming charges has been. Europeans are largely benefitting from the opportunity to use their mobile devices freely while travelling. At the same time, we can also clearly see that the EU roaming market continues to function well. Contrary to the fears of higher domestic prices due to the end of roaming charges, domestic prices for mobile services have actually overall decreased across the EU.” The use of roaming data within the EU and European Economic Area (EEA) peaked in the holiday period of summer 2018 (third quarter) with 12 times higher use of mobile data abroad compared to before all retail roaming costs were scrapped. Over the same period, the volume of phone calls made while roaming was almost three times higher. Further details are available in the press release.