Phone company suspends roaming charges

By Dan Whitworth
Newsbeat technology reporter

Vodafone's offer lasts for three months and works in 35 countries

Taking your mobile away on holiday with you could be about to get a lot cheaper.

If you're with Vodafone, as from 1 June, it'll be just as cheap to call your mum or your mates whether you're in Margate or Malia.

It's because the company is abolishing roaming charges, those annoying little extras that can set you back serious money if you use your mobile abroad a lot.

It works like this.

Sign up to Vodafone's special 'Passport' deal and you can make and receive calls, texts and picture messages for exactly the same price as what you pay in the UK.

It applies across 35 countries made up of all those in the EU and others like Australia and New Zealand.

Small print

There are some catches though. It's only going to last for three months; June, July and August.

There's no change to how much it'll cost if you use the internet on your phone.

I had to just stop using my phone and tell people not to call me or ignore them if they did Jaime, 24 from Essex, says it was too expensive to use his mobile on holiday in Ireland

You can only receive up to 60 minutes worth of calls for free.

Jamie's 24 and from Ilford in Essex. He thinks it's a really good deal.

"I've been on holiday a couple of times and when I get back my mobile bill is an absolute nightmare," he said.

"It would help if it was for a little bit longer but I think it's a really good deal for the few months it is available."

The cost of using mobiles abroad within the European Union is already, gradually, coming down.

Legislation's been introduced to cap the price of making calls and sending texts so that from 1 July it'll be a maximum of around 39p per minute and 11p per message.

Marine's 24 from Pembrokeshire in south Wales and a Vodafone customer.

She's not impressed. She said: "We're all just getting excited about something that only lasts three months.

"Three months goes quite quickly and after that we're back to square one so it doesn't give you the incentive to want to sign up.

"So I'm not going to run to the shop to sign up."

Jamie likes the idea though: "I went to Ireland recently and ended up paying a fortune when I was using my phone. It was really expensive.

"So I had to just stop using my phone and tell people not to call me or ignore them if they did.

"As for the internet still costing the same on your phone, I don't really think it's a problem to be honest.

"I can get by without the internet."