38 operators had agreed to voluntarily reduce charges for those roaming between EU member states and the Western Balkans region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). New price caps will be in place from October and further cuts are in the pipeline.

Its update follows a declaration signed by several major players at a summit in December 2022 outlining an ambition to reduce the charges. Original signatories included Orange, Deutsche Telekom, and A1 Telekom Austria. As of 1 October, caps of €18 per GB will be in place for customers of participating operators from within the EU and Western Balkans. This will fall to €14 in 2026 and €9 from 2028. Caps apply to users roaming within either region.

The sliding fees bring users in the Western Balkans closer to data roaming policies already available to citizens of EU countries roaming in other member states. “This price capping encourages and simplifies business, cultural, tourism, and other exchanges between the EU and the Western Balkans, strengthening the links between neighboring regions,” the European Commission noted in a statement. “The operators are currently working on creating products with prices below the agreed price caps, which will be available for purchase to the broadest possible number of consumers,” EC added.