Everything you need to know about the EU phone call price cap

A price cap on phone calls across the European Union comes into effect today.

The cheaper international calls and texts are part of the European Commission’s plan to strengthen telecoms rules, after it banned roaming charges across the region in June 2017.

Here’s what UK customers need to know.

Costs

Callers from their country to another EU country will pay a maximum of 16p per minute (19 cents) plus VAT and 5p (6 cents) plus VAT per SMS message.

The rules will apply in all 28 EU countries as of 15 May, and in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein soon after.

Your phone operator will have to notify you of the new price caps.

The maximum price is capped for private personal calls only.

Business customers are excluded from the price cap.

Will this change for Brits after Brexit?

With the UK poised to leave the EU, the government has confirmed that operators could reintroduce roaming charges to UK customers - if the country crashes out without a deal.

In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the government advises that you check your mobile operator’s roaming policies before you go abroad.

If there is a deal, then UK customers will continue to be guaranteed surcharge-free roaming within the EU during the “Implementation Period” of transition out of the bloc, ending on 31 December 2020.

That period could be extended by two years.

After the Implementation Period, arrangements for roaming, including surcharges, would depend on the outcome of the UK’s negotiations on the Future Economic Partnership with the EU.