In times of war and hardship, mobile phone costs should not be an extra concern. An EU deal with mobile phone operators aims to achieve exactly that. Contact with home remains affordable for Ukrainians.
People from Ukraine will be able to make phone calls, send messages and use the Internet within the EU for another year without incurring high additional costs. The European Commission has announced that the voluntary agreement between 22 European and seven Ukrainian telecommunications operators will be continued to enable refugees from Ukraine to contact their homeland at lower costs.
This is the fifth extension of the agreement. “We can only hope that staying connected through affordable phone calls has brought some comfort,” said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
At the same time, Ukraine had been working on a joint roaming zone with the European Union. A corresponding law was signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky in mid-June. Now Ukraine must receive a positive assessment of the legislative changes from the European side and begin negotiations on joining the single roaming area with the EU.
Since 2017, there have been no more roaming charges in the 27 EU member states, as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. This means that mobile phone customers can make calls, send text messages and surf the Internet in other EU countries without incurring additional costs.
Source: Stern
