Europe roaming fees cut in time for summer hols

(BRUSSELS) - Tourists within Europe can use their smartphones without fear of an outrageous bill waiting at home starting from this year's summer holidays, as the European Union is cutting maximum mobile data roaming rates by 36 percent next week.

The new rules, which come into effect on Monday, mean that mobile data roaming within the EU will now be up to 91 percent cheaper in 2013 than it was in 2007, the European Commission said in a statement on Thursday, billing its drive to cut prices as an effort "to be relevant to people's lives".

It will be "cheaper to use maps, watch videos, check emails and update social networks while travelling," it said.

Roaming downloads will now cost 45 euro cents per megabyte, phone calls will cost 24 cents a minute plus value-added tax and sending a text message will cost eight cents plus VAT.

The most drastic change in mobile charges will be in Croatia -- which becomes the EU's 28th member state on Monday.

The cost for data roaming there will be 15 times lower from July and calling elsewhere in the EU will be 10 times cheaper.

"Operators are free to offer cheaper rates, and some have already begun to remove roaming premiums altogether for voice and SMS," the Commission said in its statement.