French data roaming has almost quadrupled in one year
Since the abolition of roaming charges a year ago, the French have widely used their mobile phone in EU countries. french data roaming
At the time of entry into the force of “roam like at home “, the French were on average less informed than their EU neighbors: in July 2017, only 59% of French people said they were aware of the end of roaming charges, against 71% of Europeans on average.
French usage when traveling in Europe was very limited:
– 75% said they were restricted to SMS and mobile internet
– 28% said they did not use their mobile internet at all
However, one year later, it is clear that the ” roam like at home ” has become widely used, thus strengthening the digital single market:
- in the second half of 2017, both telephony and roaming SMS traffic increased by around 40% compared to the second half of 2016 (3);
- over the same period, roaming data consumption has almost quadrupled in one year.
- the data consumption of French roaming remains well above the European average: 354 MB against 242 MB per month and per roaming user in the summer of 2017.
The next step is reducing the cost of international calls which European Union governments and lawmakers have already agreed to this month and to cap the price of calling from one EU country to another.
