How to make post-holiday phone bill shocks a thing of the past

If you're heading abroad to Europe this summer there's good news - you're set to save some cash on your mobile bill.

With the Euro crisis continuing there is at least a bit of cheer for holidaymakers as the cost of calling or texting to the UK and using roaming data to surf the internet will fall in price from July 1 to its cheapest levels yet.

According to uSwitch, a third of UK travellers get stung by high charges on their return from Europe.

The research also found less than three in ten check out how much their network charges abroad will be before jetting off, and 30% of those questioned failed to switch off data roaming.

By not doing switching off data roaming, a mobile device will still be able to connect to the internet in the background and download emails or update apps, often racking up huge costs for the unwitting owner.

Unsurprisingly, 81% of respondents thought mobile phone providers charge too much for overseas services, but over six in ten have never looked into money-saving roaming packages offered by their network.

But some holidaymakers still don't realise the high cost of making phone calls, sending messages and surfing the web while on the move abroad.

[Related Article: Britons waste £6bn a year on mobile phone bills]

According to uSwitch, the number of people saying they will use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter by the pool or beach this year is down by five per cent on 2011.

Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch.com, said: "For too long now holidaying Brits have been burnt by the high cost of using their mobiles abroad. There has been little regulation to protect them and many are in the dark about the costs involved.

"Those travelling further afield are still unprotected as there’s no such body enforcing roaming caps on the rest of the world.

"The new regulations – coupled with the recent launch of consumer-friendly EU roaming packages from T-Mobile, Vodafone and Three – are great news for mobile users."

But he added: "It is still up to consumers to take responsibility and get clued up about the products their networks are offering, so the days of post-holiday bill shocks are not over yet."

Currently, the cost of calling and texting is capped by EU rules and there is also a top level of $50 on data roaming, forcing operators to notify users when their surfing hits that amount.

But from July 1, the cost of a 1MB data download in Europe will be no more than 56p with calls lowered to 23p per minute from around 36p. Texts will be 7p each instead of as much as 25p.

Some networks are attempting to help their customers. Orange is protecting those outside the EU by opting them in to a $50 cap from July 1, so they're not stung when travelling to places like America. In the US a MB of data can be as much as £8 and calls can cost up to £1.40 per minute.

Virgin Media customers are now not allowed to surf the web within the EU until they buy a data pass, forcing them to opt-in rather than incur unwanted charges.

The new regime came into force this year, with bosses hoping it will prevent bill shock. The pay as you go passes are valid for three months or until the data is used up. They cost from £3 for 5MB to £30 for 100MB.

Three recently introduced a Euro Internet Pass, which provides unlimited data for £5 per day. T-Mobile offer boosters to buy for data while Vodafone allow contract customers to use their existing UK price plan for £3 a day.

In a similar move to ensure mobile phone users aren't wasting money, The Carphone Warehouse this week launched an app to advise smartphone owners on how many minutes or texts and data they are using in any given month.

The Bill Angel app aims to tackle what Carphone says is £4.8 billion of waste from people being on allowances that are unsuitable for their actual usage.

An Android version is out now, as is an iOS version - but this only monitors data. A BlackBerry download is due on July 7 and will monitor each person's use and then send alerts when contract limits are approached.