Mobile phone roaming charges cut from today

People travelling in Europe will be able to call, text and browse the internet from their mobiles at cheaper rates than before.

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said: "The roaming rip-off is now coming to an end."

In April the European Commission (EC) voted to slash charges across Europe, meaning that from today sending text messages home from Europe will cost no more than 9p (€0.11) as opposed to the previous average of 46p (€0.49).

Mobile phone operators must also provide clearer information on the cost of using the internet on a mobile phone when abroad.

The cost for mobile web access will be capped at 93p (€1) per megabyte compared to the current £1.49 (€1.68) charge. This will then fall to 71p (€0.80) in 2010 and to 41p (€0.50) in 2011.

The rules, which will apply until summer 2012, will also see the cost of roaming phone calls fall to 38p (€0.43) per minute compared to the current 41p (€0.46) for an outgoing voice call. The cap on costs for voice calls received abroad will fall from 20p (€0.22) to 17p (€19) in July and 9p (€0.11) by July 2011.