Mobile operators in the EU must offer customers the ability to cap their data use while roaming under new rules that took effect on 1 March. The so-called 'bill shock' rule applies for customers using mobile internet while roaming in EU countries. Operators must offer customers a monthly cap of EUR 50 on data roaming costs. Customers will receive a waring when they reach 80 percent of the limit, and then no longer be able to access the internet once they reach the cap. Operators can also offer other spending caps, and customers can opt out of any limit. Customers need to make a deliberate choice by 1 July in order to benefit from a cut-off limit. If they don't make a decision by then, the EUR 50 cap will apply automatically. The European Commission will analyse the functioning of all roaming regulations, including the provisions on data roaming, in an interim report due in June 2010 and in a more extensive review in June 2011.
