3 lowers roaming charges but data abroad is still pricey

Following various price cuts on mobile broadband services, 3 has announced that it is lowering its mobile broadband roaming prices to what it says are the best rates on any network.

3 will now be charging £1.25 per MB, which it claims is 25p cheaper per MB than its nearest rival T-Mobile; and £3.75 cheaper than Virgin Mobile, which according to 3 charges a massive £5 per MB.

The move comes days before a new EU law comes into effect which will cap controversial roaming charges for mobile voice calls, SMS messages and mobile broadband at the wholesale end of things. As Viviane Reding, the EU Commissioner for Information Society and the Media put it: "All Europeans making calls or sending texts with their mobiles can experience the EU's single market without borders. The roaming-rip off is now coming to an end thanks to the determined action of the European Commission, the European Parliament and all 27 EU member states." The wholesale cost of data used within EU countries is to be capped at €1 per MB - so about 85p at current rates - meaning that host operators will be prevented from hiking up the prices they charge to the roaming customer's home operator - costs which then get billed on to the customer; meaning that roaming charges will be kept at least partly under control.

Commenting on the price cuts at 3 John Eccleston, Head of Communication and Mobile Products said that they were “the best all-round value on the market,” but many users still feel that £1.25 per MB is a little on the steep side.