£4,000 to watch a movie? Smartphone users still risk enormous bill shocks

Paul Nesbitt

Which? has issued a warning to UK smartphone owners taking their handsets abroad, that they could face massive and unexpected bills for data downloads.

Although the EU has issued a directive to limit what networks can charge for data downloads abroad, it will not be enacted until 1 July.

Until then, Which? warned that smartphone users abroad could be charged as much as £8 per MB downloaded.

So, downloading or streaming a 500MB movie could cost an unwitting smartphone owner £4,000 in data download charges alone!

This outrageous situation will be remedied in the 27 countries of the EU and Switzerland, where after 1 July there will a default limit of £45 per month for data download charges. And this limit can be raised if you specifically request it from your network.

However, UK travelers to non-EU countries will not be protected.

'Mobile phone companies should voluntarily take these very sensible steps, and apply them on a worldwide basis,' said a Which? spokesman.