The member states of the European Union approved the cap on mobile roaming rates. The cap takes effect this summer. For enterpreneurs who travel a lot, the high roaming fees imposed by the operators when you leave your home country, have been a financial burden. Worse than that are the roaming rates for data (not affected by the regulation, unfortunately). My operator, Orange Netherlands, which was sold to Deutsche Telekom this week, charges 15 EUR per megabyte transferred.

The excessive charges for voice and data roaming have spawned startups that get around the cellular rip off. Companies like Jajah, Truphone, Rebtel, and Fring have been successful in getting customers who hate paying large phone bills. For those who have Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones, Gizmo Project is very popular. Skype does not have a Symbian client yet for the Nokia phones but when they release it, people will find another way to make free calls via Wi-Fi.

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