Europeans can now use their mobile phones in other European Union countries at a much cheaper rate, after price caps on roaming fees took effect Wednesday.

"The roaming ripoff is now coming to an end," Viviane Reding, European Union Telecoms commissioner, said in a statement.

The new regulations, which affect voice, text and data services, are expected to cut roaming charges by an average of 60 per cent within the union's 27 member states, and are expected to boost mobile phone use.

The price caps are:

• 0.11 euros (18 cents) for each text message sent.
• 0.19 euros (31 cents) per minute for incoming voice calls.
• 0.43 euros (70 cents) per minute for outgoing voice calls.
• 1 euro ($1.62) per MB downloaded.

The limits are also scheduled to fall further on July 1, 2010, and on July 1, 2011.

Under the new rules, wireless carriers must also:

• Bill per second instead of per minute for calls received abroad; the rule also goes into effect after the first 30 seconds of each outgoing call abroad.
• Introduce a mechanism by March 2010 that would cut off roaming data service after a customer's bill reaches a maximum amount, which would be 50 euros unless otherwise specified by the customer.

To illustrate why this was necessary, the release cited the case of a German who received a bill for 46,000 euros after he downloaded a TV program while roaming in France.

A similar high-profile case made the news in North America in late June.

Adam Savage, co-host of the U.S. TV show MythBusters, received a $11,000 cellphone bill after surfing the net while in Montreal on vacation. Savage's wireless carrier, AT & T, dropped the roaming charges after he publicized the case on Twitter.

Canada's telecommunications regulator does not regulate rates, quality of service or business practices of wireless service providers, alleging it isn't necessary due to sufficient competition in the marketplace.