Cap imposed to prevent huge mobile phone bills

The chances of being hit by a massive mobile phone bill after a European holiday have been reduced by the introduction of a cap on the cost of using a smartphone to access the internet or use emails.

Users will now be automatically cut off once they reach 50 euros in useage and will have to make a request for the restriction to be lifted. This is to prevent users clocking up a huge bill without realising as they use their smartphone as if they were still in the UK.

This is a particularly common problem when on a European stag weekend as the combination of beer and funny photos can make the urge to send picture messages back home seem irresistable.

Large phone companies have been under pressure from the EU to reduce the cost of using mobile phones abroad and under the new system the maximum permitted charge for making a mobile call while in another EU state will be capped at 32p a minute and the rate for receiving calls at 12.5p a minute.

During the recent ash cloud crisis it had been reported that users managed to rack up phone bills in excess of £5,000.

By Paul Kelly