Data roaming charges must be reduced, say bodies

European lawmakers have been urged by a host of industry experts to keep a lid on data roaming charges when they set new price tariffs in the coming weeks.

Mobile network Three has published an open letter to ministers in which it – along with bodies such as uSwitch.com, Which? and the Federation of Small Businesses – called for costs on using internet services abroad, possibly to run mobile voice over internet protocol (VoIP) solutions, to be controlled.

Communications ministers from around the continent are due to decide on prices in the next few weeks.

The letter said it wants the cost of data to be reduced year on year, which could be good news for mobile VoIP users.

And it is not only abroad that consumers face mobile broadband worries, as recent research by uSwitch.com found that London is the worst of the UK's major cities when it comes to connections.

Data usage is said by authors of the letter to be "exploding" at the current time.