The EU has told European mobile phone companies to slash their roaming charges for text messages and internet use before 1 July or face new regulations.
The announcement was made by EU communications commissioner Viviane Reding at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.
Roaming is when customers use their mobile phones while abroad, for which they are charged higher tariffs than domestic use.
Ms Reding said sending text messages or downloading other data through a mobile phone while in another EU country should not be substantially more expensive for a consumer than sending text messages or downloading data at home.
Last year the EU commissioner introduced a price cap for European phone owners which covered mobile voice calls in other EU countries.
She said consumers should feel at ease when sending an SMS from the beaches of Spain or when skiing in the mountains of Austria.
