Following the European Union’s telecoms commissioner's announcement that she is to review the legislation regarding mobile roaming charges, telephone company 3 has announced that it is banning its customers from downloading data while abroad.

Customers will only be able to engage in data downloads if they specifically ask the company to be able to, with 3 asserting that roaming charges for data could leave its clients with huge bills when they return home, according to a Sunday Times report.

Kevin Russel, chief executive of 3 stated that various interested parties have stated that costs have come down, while also arguing that the market is immature.

However, he added, "using mobile data isn't just the preserve of a handful of business people anymore".

The newspaper states that a few hundred thousand 3 customers connect to mobile internet by using "dongles".

Ed Richards, the chief executive of Ofcom, said that mobile internet customers can face paying £4.11 per megabyte of data, which was a difficult obstacle to overcome in the take-up of the platform.

Online publication Digital Lifestyles recently reported that a Manchester-based IT consultant was faced with a bill from Vodafone of over £30,000 after downloading data while on holiday in Portugal.