A long time ago, 2007 I think, the EU got tired of hearing consumers complaining about bill shock and roaming prices, so they imposed several pricing caps that would get lower and lower until 2011 when the price would settle at 0.35 EUR per minute. For Britain, an island nation that has lots of cheap flights abroad, operators were making money hand over fist thanks to roaming charges, so they hated these new pricing caps.
They [Vodafone, Telefonica O2, T-Mobile and Orange] filed a complaint against the EU, and today the courts told them to piss off and find new ways of making money that doesn’t involve screwing over customers.
Also beginning on July 1, an operator is required to inform customers when their roaming fees are close to reaching 50 EUR, and even cut off service to a customer once they hit that 50 EUR price cap. Customers can, of course, increase that cap, but why would they? In Europe you can buy a prepaid SIM card as easily as you can buy a loaf of bread, and if you’re roaming then chances are you’re on holiday so you should have your phone turned off anyway.
[Via: Mobile Burn, Associated Press]