It could soon cost less to use mobile phones when traveling abroad in the European Union.

According to BBC, MEPs have voted Feb 28 for a significant cut in the price companies can charge for calls and texts and - for the first time ever - to introduce a maximum fee for data usage.

It's the latest in a long running effort by EU officials to increase competition in the single market when it comes to mobile roaming.

The committee of MEPs says it wants staged cuts so, by 1 July 2014, operators won't be able to charge roaming customers any more than 15 cents (12p) a minute to make a call; 5 cents (4p) to send a text; and 20 cents a megabyte (16p) for data.

EU officials say previous attempts to introduce price measures have failed to spark competition between operators.

Currently, the limit on what can be charged for making a call is around 30p and sending a text about 9p.

However, there's no cap on what companies can charge per megabyte for data.