IT HAS been a border county bugbear for years, but it seems that change is finally on its way.
Mobile phone roaming charges are set to be abolished within the European Union by June 2017.
The ban will be preceded by a 14-month interim period in which companies can still add surcharges but at a reduced rate.
Phone users in Ireland have often complained of additional mobile charges when travelling across the border.
And many mobile users in border counties have been hit with roaming fees even when they haven't moved between north and south.
But under the new rules, mobile users will pay the same price to make calls, send texts and use data wherever they are in the EU.
It means calling friends or family while travelling will make no difference to bills from June 15 2017, the European Commission announced yesterday.
European negotiators also reached an agreement on so-called net neutrality rules, which will see internet providers banned from blocking or slowing down access to particular content.
Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson called on the European Council to ensure the new deadline is enforced following previous delays to the changes.
"The onus is now on the European Council to ensure this deadline is adhered to so that customers, particularly those in border areas, are not penalised by unfair charges beyond that date," she said.
Roaming charges will become cheaper from April next year when operators will only be able to charge an additional amount to domestic prices of up to 0.05 euro (3p) per minute for calls made, 0.02 euro (1p) for texts, and 0.05 euro (3p) per MB of data, excluding VAT.
The rules still have to be formally approved by the European Parliament and Council.
