TELECOMS & MOBILE
Roaming cap gets green light from EU
07-06-2007
by Charlie Taylor
In a move that will no doubt be welcomed by holidaymakers, the EU has approved plans to slash the cost of roaming calls across the continent in time for summer.
The European Union formally agreed to the decision to bring in regulations to protect consumers from excessively high roaming charges at a meeting of EU telecommunications ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday.
The agreement introduces price regulation at the wholesale and retail level as well as placing obligations on operators to provide transparent information on roaming charges to their customers.
As a result, mobile roaming charges will be capped for consumers at EUR0.49 for calls made abroad and EUR0.24 for calls received while overseas. The legislation is also meant to enhance price transparency by forcing mobile service providers to give detailed information on retail roaming charges to their customers.
The law is expected to go into effect on 30 June, by which time mobile operators will be expected to have altered their pricing structures to comply with the new regulation.
The European Union said that it would be encouraging competition below the new 'Eurotariff' and said that price caps are likely to be further reduced in 2008 and 2009. The cap is only applicable to voice services and not SMS or MMS messages
Noel Dempsey, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources welcomed the news. "Since coming into office I have highlighted the issue of mobile phone roaming charges. I have strongly supported the need to protect consumers from excessive roaming charges and have consistently supported the need for regulation at EU level."
Speaking from the Council meeting at which the regulation was agreed, minister of State John Browne added; "This regulation is a clear example of the EU working for consumers. The cross-border nature of mobile phone roaming meant co-ordinated action at EU level was necessary to address high roaming charges within the EU and the Irish Government actively engaged with the Commission to ensure that consumers would benefit from lower mobile roaming costs."
The Commission first proposed an EU regulation on roaming on public mobile networks within the EU last July, stating that it wished to see charges fall by as much as 70 percent.
Mobile operators have fought long and hard to stop the introduction of the new Eurotariff which isn't too surprising given that roaming charges are estimated to bring in a whopping EUR8.5 billion each year to Europe's mobile phone networks.
Not surprisingly then, representatives from the mobile operators reacted negatively to the decision to slash roaming charges. The GSM Association (GSM), the trade body representing the mobile industry, said the new regulation was unnecessary and would curb competition.
"The regulation is unnecessary because operators are delivering increasingly good value to consumers on roaming services. The average cost of making and receiving calls while travelling in Europe is now 29 percent lower than during 2005, according to the European mobile phone industry's roaming Retail Price Index. Across the EU, the average cost of a roaming call has fallen from EUR0.83 per minute, excluding VAT, in 2005 to EUR0.59 in the first quarter of 2007," said the association in a statement.
"These proposals are designed to further a narrow, short-term and populist agenda and run counter to the wider interests of consumers, the business community and ultimately the European Union," added Rob Conway, CEO of the association.
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