Roaming charges for tablet data usage could hit thousands of pounds.

Using mobile internet on tablet devices whilst abroad could land you a hefty bill according to research by consumer group, Which?

The report showed that a usage level equivalent to only £15 within the UK could cost you thousands of pounds if racked up abroad.

The tariff varies from country to country, but is thankfully capped within the EU by a directive that limited roaming charges to a maximum of 50 euros per year.

Yves Martin, head of roaming operation at Orange, defended the extreme pricing, saying that in some cases it was necessary because of the costs involved in making such interconnectivity possible.

“You interconnect, say, Orange UK with an operator in India. You need to allocate time to physically connect the two networks and ensure the billing and everything is going well,” Martin said. “Every route costs €10,000 to €100,000 and you have around 700 operators worldwide, so it’s a lot of investment.”

However, consumer groups and tablet users alike have decried the enormous roaming charges as far too high.

Tech site, ZDNet UK have begun an online petition for fair data pricing, which can be accessed here.

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