Some good news to report as a cap on mobile phone roaming charges has been introduced as the first week of the European Parliament begins.

Roaming charges will be halved across the EU allowing users to surf the internet while traveling across Europe safe in the knowledge that their bill won’t be astronomical.

The caps include cuts for the cost of sending text messages, making phone calls and downloading data.

For too long the cost of making phone calls abroad has been astronomical. For some of us it’s a problem every time we go abroad a few times a year, and for many others who are regular travelers around the continent the sky-high costs can be a costly problem.

Mobile phone companies have been allowed to set unreasonably high charges and this has not been challenged until now. As a result the European Union has successfully capped these to make it more affordable.

In addition many businesses whose employees are required to travel regularly will benefit from the introduction of a cap on roaming charges.

From July operators can charge a maximum of €0.20 (16p) a megabyte, plus VAT for mobile downloads and internet surfing. This is down from 70c in 2012 and 45c in 2013. The cost of sending a text is now only 6c (down from 8c) and to receive a text is capped at 5c. Meanwhile making a call has been capped at 15p a minute.

The commission published this table with a full breakdown of costs for roaming, downloading data, making ad receiving calls and text messages.