Thinkbroadband.com, the independent broadband news and information site, is warning consumers of the costs of using the Internet on a smartphone that does not come with a ‘data bundle’.
Following repeated horror stories of individuals getting unexpected large bills, sometimes running into thousands of pounds, after using the Internet from their mobile phone or broadband dongle abroad, the European Commission introduced regulation[1] that forced mobile phone companies to stop customers unwittingly running up huge bills. Now, anyone whose usage exceeds 50 euros (or similar limit in local currency) should find their service suspended, unless they agree with their mobile company to remove this limit. Network operators are also required to send a warning when the user reaches 80 per cent of this limit.
However, consumers may be unaware that this limit only applies when roaming onto other networks in the EU, and specifically it does not affect your data usage in the UK. This means, it’s quite possible to run up large bills on a smartphone, if you do not have a ‘data bundle’ attached to your mobile phone package.
Sebastien Lahtinen, co-founder of thinkbroadband.com explains “Smartphones like the Apple iPhone are becoming very popular and there are significant numbers of users buying them in a retail store separate from a mobile phone contract, without being aware that they could easily run up hundreds of pounds in charges, simply by using the Internet from their mobile phone”