EU agrees to half roaming call charges

EU POLITICOS VOTED to reign in excessive charges applied to mobile phone calls by greedy companies stinging roamers.

Officials will take three months to phase in the new price caps, however, so mobile operators will still be maiking hay while the European sun shines.

It's also taken them ten months to agree on the new pricing structure and there's yet another meeting to go. Still, the cost of making a call abroad looks set to be pegged at €0.49 (34p) a minute. It will still cost punters €0.24 (17p) a minute to receive calls while abroad. This is around half the average cost today.

EU Telco commissioner Viviane Reding said today was a "good day" for consumers and business travellers in the EU. µ