More than 81 per cent of residents of the European Union travelling within the bloc and European Economic Area (EEA) countries can call, text and use mobile data at no additional cost.
Such findings have been made in the recent survey of the Commission’s Eurobarometer related to roaming charges, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The survey revealed that a total of 72 per cent of the respondents who have travelled within the EU or Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein, travel only once or twice a year, while a total of 28 per cent more often.
In addition, 71 per cent of those who participated in the survey consider the SMS they receive useful when crossing a border.
“More than 80 per cent of respondents confirm that the roaming data allowances, which are subject to certain limits known as ‘fair use policy’, are sufficient to cover their needs when travelling, whether for leisure, work or study,” the report of the European Commission reads.
However, in order to avoid surcharges, a significant number of roamers turn off data roaming or limit their data usage on their phones. A total of 49 per cent of them do so occasionally during their stay.
“The findings of the study will feed into the Commission’s review of the ‘fair use policy’ rules, which ensure that operators can sustainably offer mobile data services to their customers when they travel, at national prices,” the statement reads.
European Union roaming rules have been in place for six years since they were first introduced in 2017.
On July 1, last year, the Commission announced the new Roaming Regulation that would become effective in the bloc stressing that it would remain valid until 2032.
Back then, it was emphasised that with the new scheme, operators would provide 4G or 5G networks, while consumers would be eligible to find information related to network availability in the informative websites or the mobile service contracts.
Citizens of EU countries travelling to each other’s territories are not required to pay additional charges when using their mobile data, which is known as roaming.
Through a statement, the Commission previously noted that mobile operators are eligible to apply a “fair use policy” in order to ensure that all roamers have access to and also benefit from the “roam like at home rules”.
The Commission emphasised that calls or texts not covered in the roamers’ contract will be charged at the same rate that they’d pay in their home countries. Still, there are specific limits and rules regarding the amount of data they can have charged at their domestic price, which vary, taking into account the roamer’s contract type.