ISSUED BY PETER SKINNER, LABOUR MEP FOR THE SOUTH EAST REGION

 Peter Skinner MEP , 99 Kent Road, Dartford DA1 2AJ

Tel: 01322 270345 , Mobile: 07976 969912

For immediate release                          Wednesday, 03 March 2010

Consumers should act now on new mobile phone rights

Local Euro-MP Peter Skinner is calling on people in his South East Constituency  to take control of their mobile phone bill after new EU rules came into force this week.

Consumers now have additional rights to help them avoid the shock of a massive bill when they return from trips abroad.

Rules introduced this week give people new powers to control how much they spend on accessing the internet with their mobile when travelling in other EU countries.

They will benefit both holiday makers and business people who use mobile devices to access their email or websites.

The cost of downloading data over mobile networks can be hugely expensive and many customers return from their holidays to face unexpectedly high bills. In some cases customers have racked up thousands of pounds in charges without being aware of the costs.

The new rules mean people can now set a limit on how much they are willing to spend on mobile internet while they’re abroad. They will be warned if they approach that limit and it will be impossible to go beyond it without agreement by the customer.

Skinner said: “These changes don’t just affect tech-savvy teenagers. Most new phones now include email as standard and sites such as Facebook are increasingly important for staying in touch.

“The cost of mobile internet access abroad can also be a nasty shock for businesses whose staff use their phone to stay on top of their email while travelling abroad.

“These rules will give customers the ability to take greater control of their bills.”

The changes were agreed by the European institutions last year and this element of the regulations came into force on Monday (1 March). The package has already led to cheaper text messages and voice calls for people travelling to other EU countries.

ENDS

Notes

• Customers can set the limit of what they are willing to spend by contacting their network provider. They will then be warned when they have reached 80 per cent of that limit.

• Text messages sent from abroad are already capped at around 11p per message under the regulations, will limits also in place for making and receiving calls.

• More information about the new rules can be found at:
  http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/215&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en