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From April, data will be capped at five euro cents (4p) per megabyte, with calls pegged at a maximum rate of five cents per minute. Texts will fall to two cent per message.

The mooted prices are about a quarter of their current levels.

But before you start to look forward to a time when roaming charges are as dead as disco and you can roam freer than The Wombles, it’s worth remembering just how quick the EU was to perform a volte face on its long-stated aim to be rid of roaming charges this year.

With good reason, uSwitch mobiles don Ernest Doku gave the announcement a cautious welcome.

He said: “We’ve heard this before. Data roaming charges were due to be abolished in the EU at the end of 2015 and the U-turn confused and frustrated people.

“Mid 2017 is a long way off, particularly when a fifth of UK holidaymakers have returned home from an EU trip in the past year to find their bill was, on average, £61 higher than usual - amounting to £573 million collectively.

“Of these, around one in six had to pay upwards of £100 on top of their normal bill.”

Doku added: “Let’s hope there’ll be no more backtracking after Europe’s mobile networks have had their say.

“The ‘safeguards’ to address the recovery of costs by operators will have to be suitably robust to financially protect mobile customers and make sure bills don’t rise.”