This morning we got all excited thinking that Vodafone may be leading the charge in abolishing roaming charges, but alas our excitement was shortlived.
Vodafone is suspending roaming charges, but only for three months. From June 1, pay-as-you-go and contract customers will be able to talk, text and send picture messages from 35 countries across Europe for the same price as it would cost at home.
The catch is that once the promotional period is over, customers revert to Vodafone’s long-running Passport deal, which means paying a 75p connection charge every time they make a call from abroad, on top of their normal rate. Another large caveat is that the deal does not apply to surfing the web.
Ian Shepherd, consumer director for Vodafone UK, said that the deal was "much better than the standard regulated rate".
He declined to predict whether Vodafone’s competitors would react by offering similar deals, but a quick ring-round would suggest not.
T-Mobile said it "can’t comment on every new deal a competitor brings out", and Virgin also came up with a no comment. O2 said tit has no plans for a similar promotion, and pointed travellers to its My Europe Extra deal. This lets people pay an extra £10 per month to get free incoming calls while abroad in Europe, and to make calls within Europe at 25p per minute.
Three told us: "We encourage any move that helps drive prices down for consumers, and at 3 we're always looking for new and innovative ways to bring all-round value to the products and services we know our customers use everyday. Skype on 3 is an example of how we have responded to consumer demand and given the option of free calls forever to those who want them."
Orange told us: "We are regularly reviewing our roaming offers. We will be making changes to the price of texts so we can meet the regulatory requirements from July 1." It currently charges 38p for making calls and 19p for receiving calls when roaming in Europe. However, it also runs a deal called Favourite Countries, which is available for £5 a month.
In April, the European Parliament voted in favour of new rules that will intorduce caps on the price of texting as well as making and receiving calls from mobile phones while travelling in Europe.
Proposed in September, the deal will see a text message cost no more than 11 euro cents, which is less than half the current average price. Calling and receiving charges were brought down by several cents each.
Viviane Reding, the EU telecoms commissioner, said: "Today's vote marks the definite end of the roaming rip-off in Europe. Thanks to the strong support of the European Parliament and the Council, the new roaming rules were agreed in the record time of just seven months. Just in time for the summer holidays, European citizens will now be able to see the single market without borders on their phone bills."