Mobile customers may be cut off when abroad

Massive roaming charges - not on your Neelie!

New EU roaming charge legislation will force European mobile phone operators to offer their customers a cut-off facility which aims to stop them receiving 'bill shocks' after using their mobile phones to access data in other EU countries.

Roaming charges are extra costs applied to residents who use their mobile phone outside their country of residence.

The EU's new 'cut-off' mechanism was incorporated into roaming rules legislation by the EU's council of ministers in June 2009.

Following a warning to consumers, the mechanism will result in mobile internet connections being cut when the bill reaches the specified limit.

Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said that protection against data roaming bill shocks will help build the confidence of customers who rely on mobile networks to surf the internet when travelling around Europe."

Mobile phone operators are now legally obliged to offer customers a monthly cut-off limit of €50 (about £45), and to warn customers when they hit 80 per cent of their allocated limit.

Customers will need to specify what they want their limit to be by 1 July, after which a default limit of €50 applies.

The national regulators in each EU country will be responsible for policing the rules for its own residents, with Ofcom policing those of UK residents.

The new Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (Berec), will look into how the new regulations are functioning, and issue an interim report this July. A more extensive review will be provided by Berec in June 2011.