Starting from July 1st next year, users in the 27 countries that are members of the European Union will no longer have to pay roaming charges for using their mobile phones to make calls, send text messages, or access the Internet when traveling to countries within the European Community.
This move is expected to reduce providers' revenues by around 2%, but should also prove beneficial for them, as their customers are expected to keep their contracts, even when abroad, reports a recent article in The Telegraph.
The European Commission's new decision is also expected to facilitate mergers between wireless network providers and stimulate competition, which will force most companies to make large investments to strengthen their infrastructure.
Currently, there are over 100 companies operating in the 27 EU countries. This fragmentation is believed to be an obstacle to network upgrades and similar investments, but the new decision comes to drastically change all that.
