EU Proposes Sweeping Ban of Cellphone Roaming Charges

European Union proposed new rules on Tuesday banning cellphone roaming charges in all 28 member countries, as part of a raft of legal reforms to improve communication and e-commerce opportunities across the continent.

The agreed upon rules, which are expected to be voted upon and approved by EU member states in the next six months, will eradicate all cellphone roaming charges by June 2017, the New York Times reports. A gradual cost reduction will take place over the next two years.

Lawmakers also proposed net neutrality regulations that will prevent Internet service providers from providing different data speeds for different tiers of service.

“This is a great success for the European Union,” Anrijs Matiss, the Latvian Minister for Transport, said in a statement, but the new rules they have garnered pushback from service providers, including the British Vodafone and German Deutsche Telekom. Both companies have warned that the ban on roaming charges would dampen their incentive to invest in mobile and broadband infrastructure.

[New York Times]

PHOTOS: The Rise of Mobile Phones from 1916 to Today

1916 A German field telephone station in the Aisne department of northern France during World War I.

Paul Thompson—FPG/Getty Images

1970 French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday in a scene from the film 'Point de Chute' (aka 'Falling Point').

Keystone/Holton/Getty Images

1980 An early mobile phone during the Iranian Embassy siege at Princes Gate in South Kensington, London.

Kypros/Getty Images

1983 Bob Maxwell, general manager of Englewood-based Mobile Telephone of Colorado, places a call on an FCC-approved radio frequency while driving to work.

Lyn Alweis—Denver Post/Getty Images

1986 THE A-TEAM "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair" Episode 5. (l-r) Eddie Velez as Frankie Santana, Robert Vaughn as General Hunt Stockwell, George Peppard as John 'Hannibal' Smith.

Bill Dow—NBC/Getty Images

1992 Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton talks on a cell phone while meeting with Boston Mayor Ray Flynn in a New York hotel on Sept. 25.

Mark Lennihan—AP

1993 Whoopi Goldberg during ShoWest in Las Vegas.

Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images

1997 A farmer with his family sitting on a Bullock Cart and talking on a mobile Phone, in Delhi.

India Today Group/Getty Images

2001 A woman watches smoke pour out of the World Trade Center Towers in New York on September 11.

Nicholas Goldberg—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

2011 A rebel militiaman speaks on his mobile phone after capturing territory from government troops on March 25 in Ben Jawat, Libya.

John Moore—Getty Images

2011 A youth films the aftermath of tear gas police fired at protestors in Muhammed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square on November 23 in Cairo.

Peter Macdiarmid—Getty Images

2012 Audience members take pictures of President Barack Obama at Florida Atlantic University on April 10 in Boca Raton, Florida.

Marc Serota—Getty Images

2014 A teenager takes a selfie in front of Queen Elizabeth II during a walk around St. Georges Market in Belfast. The Queen has apparently voiced her dismay that when she carries out engagements she is greeted by a sea of mobile phones.

Peter Macdiarmid—PA Wire/Press Association Images/AP

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