Take YouTube on Your Dream Holiday - for £1,000 per Hour
By Broadband Genie, PRNEWednesday, July 6, 2011
CAMBRIDGE, England, July 7, 2011 -
Despite EC law forcing UK mobile operators to cap data roaming
bills at 50 euros (£45), holidaymakers travelling outside the EU
are still in danger of running up massive charges reaching to
thousands of pounds, warns
Mobile broadband roaming prices in the EU can still be very
high, at anything up to £3 per MB, but the cap stops things getting
out of control. Outside the EU, prices can go as high as £7.50
(T-Mobile) or £8 (Orange) per MB. As streaming YouTube videos is
estimated to use around 130Mb per hour, that could be more than
£1,000 per hour!
Popular destinations such as the Caribbean, New Zealand, Turkey,
Australia and India often into the most expensive zones for data,
depending on which mobile operator you are with.
Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling said: “While their websites
proclaim the EU cap as ‘great news for travellers’, many UK
operators only impose it where they are forced to - in EU
countries. Anyone travelling outside, even in the rest of Europe,
needs to make themselves and their families aware of the very real
possibility of bill shock.
“Internet use in the UK is taken for granted by many, especially
as we have some very generous - even unlimited - data deals
available, both on mobile and home broadband. It’s hardly
surprising that some travellers don’t consider the consequences of
using the service abroad.
“We say it to our site visitors every year, but we really wish
we didn’t have to - we see no reason why all the UK’s mobile
operators haven’t done the honourable thing and applied the data
roaming cap across all of their data roaming charges. If they don’t
do it voluntarily, maybe it is time for Ofcom to step in.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Broadband Genie is the UK’s leading independent
broadband, mobile broadband and smartphone comparison website,
providing consumers with an unbiased source of information on
prices and contracts and allowing them to compare providers in an
independent environment. Broadband Genie was launched in March 2004
as the first dedicated consumer comparison site for broadband,
while Mobile Broadband Genie was the first independent mobile
broadband comparison site, launched in October 2007. The sites were
combined in 2010, with the addition of smartphone comparison. The
site is one of the most popular in its field, regularly featuring
in the national press.
2. All queries and interview requests should be directed to
Chris Marling at Broadband Genie:
chris.marling@genieventures.co.uk
All queries and interview requests should be directed to Chris Marling at Broadband Genie:t +44(0)844-415-5531 / f +44(0)871-6618553 / m +44(0)7908-327303 / chris.marling at genieventures.co.uk
Tags: Broadband Genie, Cambridge, England, July 7, United Kingdom
