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The ban will be preceded by a 14-month interim period, in which companies can still add surcharges - but at a reduced rate.
A deal, reached on Tuesday, also sets out rules requiring telecom operators to treat most internet traffic equally. But the net neutrality rules will allow firms to favour some services, such as internet TVs. From April 2016, telecoms operators will be able to add a surcharge of no more than:
- €0.05 (3.5p) extra per minute for calls
- €0.02 extra per SMS sent
- €0.05 extra per megabyte of data used
The cap would make roaming within the EU 75% cheaper during the interim period, the European Commission said. The agreement is the culmination of years of campaigning to cut roaming charges and to define the EU nations' approach to regulating internet traffic - particularly in light of the US adoption of net-neutrality rules. It largely follows proposals put forward in March this year, which analysts said were a weaker version of what European regulators had originally promised. But it will enshrine the principle of net neutrality, which stops internet service providers (ISPs) favouring some internet traffic, in European law for the first time.....Read more here
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EU roaming fees fall for phone user- Link AAD