Mobile roaming charges fell by 60% over summer

 

Gallery

Posted on 5 Oct 2007 at 09:04

Mobile phone roaming charges in the EU have fallen by up to 60% over the summer, following the introduction of the capped Eurotariff in June.

A study by the European Regulators Group (ERG), a coalition of the EU's the 27 national telecoms regulators, found that mobile operators have generally complied with the requirements to introduce a Eurotariff by 30 July,charging no more than 49 eurocents per minute for calls made abroad and no higher than 24 eurocents for calls received abroad. By 30 August, around 200 million EU consumers had already switched to the Eurotariff. Many operators moved faster than legally required and activated the Eurotariff early.

The European Commission, which initiated the campaign for capped roaming charges, pointed out that a number of operators throughout Europe have been offering Eurotariffs below the maximum levels. The lowest prices were in the Netherlands, just 20 eurocents both for calls made and received, and the UK, 31.57 and 12.63 eurocents respectively. Prices were also below the Eurotariff in Ireland, Belgium and Austria.

The European Commissioner for Information Society & Media, Viviane Reding, suggested that this could be an early indication of competition bringing prices down. She said that the success of the Eurotariff is a testament to EU-wide co-operation.

"The Eurotariff is now the standard price offer for roaming in the EU, as had been the intention of the European legislator," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding. "I am glad to see that the move to the Eurotariff has gone smoothly, thanks to the close co-operation between the European Commission and the European Regulators Group, and the strong political support from the European Parliament throughout this summer."

She did add one note of caution regarding the transparency of some of the new roaming offers, but said that the ERG is working to ensure that mobile phone users have all the information they need about the available tariffs in each country. From 30 September, the EU Roaming Regulation will compel operators to send price information to a handset each time it is taken across an internal EU border.

Meanwhile the Commission is preparing a report to the European Parliament on the effects of the introduction of the Eurotariff on competition, on the question whether national prices have changed as a result, and on the development of prices for SMS and data roaming.

The Commission is launching studies into prices for SMS and data roaming, while the ERG will start its detailed data gathering exercise in October. A first full ERG report to the Commission on this is expected in December and the Commission expects to report to Parliament at the end of 2008.

Author: Simon Aughton