Plaid MEP Jill Evans has welcomed new European rules which will lower the cost of using mobile phones abroad from this summer. Ms Evans voted in favour of the measures at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The new rules mean that the cost of sending a text from abroad will be capped at 10p from July this year, whilst an outgoing voice call will cost no more than 40p a minute. Incoming voice calls will be capped at 17p a minute. There are also price caps for downloading data via mobile abroad, set at about 90p per megabyte from July. These figures are exclusive of VAT.

There is also a new provision to prevent 'bill shocks' that will allow customers to opt for a maximum financial limit for roaming, helping avoid a nasty shock when they receive their next bill.

Speaking after the vote in Strasbourg Jill Evans said:

"This is an example of the European Parliament making a practical difference. Most people today have mobile phones and want to use them most of all when they are away from home".

"Since price caps were first agreed for voice calls in 2007, the amount of traffic has increased quite substantially. So the scaremongering from operators about lost revenue seems unfounded.

"These price caps, and being able to set a limit on calls means the consumer and not the big companies have control over how much they spend."

Diwedd/Ends.