Roaming charges in EU are a thing of the past

After ten years of debate, roaming charges have finally been dropped in all EU member states, write various media. Telecom operators can no longer charge additional roaming costs for surfing, calling or texting abroad. Thanks to the new European law, holiday goers need no longer fear a surprisingly high phone bill after their travels.

There are, however, several restrictions and limitations surrounding the new law. Free calling and data usage apply only within the EU member states , so not including Switzerland or the Western Balkans. Some non-EU countries, on the other hand, will apply the new law, such as Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.

Another pitfall is that calling from Belgium to abroad is more expensive than calling abroad to Belgium. Furthermore, there is a limit on the period in which telecom companies must refrain from charging extra costs. This means that an unlimited bundle in Belgium is not necessarily unlimited in Europe.

Finally, it is not yet known how the telecom companies will deal with the loss of income from roaming charges. Higher smartphone subscription costs are just one possibility.