Mobile roaming costs are cut today

But customers unsure what the EU's change to mobile fees means for them

Big roaming charge reduction hits today

The EU's mobile roaming legislation comes into effect today, with big reductions in charges for UK customers using their mobile phones in continental Europe.

But the news appears to have bypassed many people, as a survey of 2,000 UK mobile phone users showed that 62 per cent were completely unaware of roaming charges.

The initial 2007 EU ruling means that texting from abroad will be 60 per cent cheaper, the cost dropping to a maximum of €0.11 per SMS.

Making calls from abroad will be reduced by €0.03 to €0.43, while receiving a call will also drop €0.03 to €0.19. Mobile operators will also have to bill by the second rather than the minute.

Data download prices are also being cut from an EU average of €1.68 per megabyte to €1.

The reduced charges are viewed as a success for EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding, especially since the survey in June by market researcher Toluna for messaging company Acision suggested 75 per cent of customers believe they are over-charged when using their phone abroad.

The study also found that 42 per cent of customers would use their phone more if they were aware of their real-time spending, and 22 per cent want to use their phone more for social networking.