EU PHONE DEALS WILL BENEFIT NORTH EAST RESIDENTS

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 3rd Aug 2009

It happens all the time - you forget your phone charger but cannot borrow a friend's because it's not the right type. But soon this nightmare will be over.

Under pressure from the European Commission the ten leading manufacturers of mobile phones have agreed that from next year they will all use the same type of charger.

According to North East MEP Fiona Hall, it was the threat of legal action which forced phone makers to see sense.

The Liberal Democrat Euro-MP described the current confusion of electrical connections used to power the 70 million mobile phones in use in Britain as a waste of money and resources.

"This outcome shows how effective it is to have a single European market. No one country alone could have brought this about, but collectively it has been possible to bang heads together and secure a long overdue change for the better."

The new charger will be based on the familiar micro-USB cable already used in some mobile phones.

And there is more good news for mobile phone users going on holiday this summer, as the European Parliament has forced substantial cuts on the price of text messaging and other data roaming services whilst abroad. From July, the price of a text message sent from abroad will fall to just €0.11 (9p) and the cost of outgoing phone calls will be restricted to €0.43 (35p) a minute excluding VAT. Incoming phone calls can only be charged at €0.19 (16p) a minute, excluding VAT.

Said Fiona:

"These new cuts to mobile phone tariffs will substantially reduce the cost for North East people on holiday within the EU.

"Mobile phone providers failed to make sufficient price cuts voluntarily so it has been necessary to force them to offer more transparency and cheaper services."