Starting June 2017, Europe will cancel roaming charges that may eventually end the era of expensive phone bills while traveling to other countries.

According to a report from TechRadar, the European Parliament has finally agreed to end the roaming charges starting June 2017. Meanwhile, clients can enjoy a lower roaming rate while they are on the road until the agreement transpires in 2017.

According to the detailed press release from the European Commission, clients who have their own carrier bundle will not be charged with anything other than their home rates. While in Europe, anything that will be accumulated using SMS, calls and MMS will be charged with the same rate as when they use their phones domestically.

The agreement, however, also imposes several limitations such as excessive usage of their individual bundle. For example, buying a local SIM other than that from the EU to be used at home because of low rates will not be tolerated. In order to minimize such actions, the agreement will put a cap on the maximum allowable roaming service. In case the consumer exceeds the roaming cap, a minimal rate will be charged on top of their bill, which they call the Fair Use Safeguard.

Meanwhile, since the removal of roaming charges will have to wait until 2017, for now, carriers can charge a small amount on their domestic prices such as €0.05 per minute of call, €0.05 MB of data and approximately €0.02 per SMS sent.

With the abolition of roaming charges, domestic rates are also not expected to increase. In fact, the rates are expected to be lowered during the transition period.

Despite the EU not fully implementing the agreement yet, they have confirmed that consumers are already benefiting from the low rate charges of roaming services. Since 2007, almost 80 percent decreased on SMS and data charges have already been achieved.

According to TechRadar, this new implementation for Europeans will enable them to dodge the billshock that usually hits holiday vacationers when they return home.

Immediately after the agreement on the removal of roaming charges is implemented, clients will only be charged with the normal domestic rate without worrying about any additional charges. The regular rates will cover the use of SMS, MMS and data charges incurred.

That being said, will consumers take full advantage of the new service? Also, where will the balance between consumer and provider fall after the implemented removal of roaming charges starts?