T-Mobile data roaming cut by 80%

It looks like the EC’s threats of mandatory cuts to the cost of roaming data and SMS are starting to put the frighteners on some operators. After EC Commissioner Viviane Reding gave the networks two weeks to cut costs before regulation reared its ugly head, T-Mobile looks like it’s already buckled.

It’s announced that from the start of next month, roaming rates within the EU will drop by up to 80 percent for “internet access and mobile broadband”, while the sending a text within Europe will reduce cost up to 38 percent less. Or, to put it another way, the cost per megabyte of mobile data will fall from £7.50 to £1.50 and a roamed SMS will be 25p, down from 40p.

It looks like Reding’s plan is working: operators are doing their very best to dodge the threat of more regulation and if that means 80 percent price cuts, so be it. Hopefully, we’ll now see a rash of ‘me too’ pricing announcements slashing the cost of data use while abroad – and just in time for the summer holidays too.