EU proposal to do away with roaming charges

EU proposal to do away with roaming charges

	Published : Tue, 28 Mar 2006 14:45 By : Cedric Benson Print this Story

BRUSSELS: The European Commission is considering a proposal to scrap "roaming charges” levied by mobile phone operators for making and receiving calls on mobile phones when a person is abroad.

EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said mobile phone users in EU member-countries would have to pay less for using their mobile phones abroad under plans being devised by her.

Reding is expected to unveil the proposal Tuesday, which may enthuse consumers but will possibly impact mobile telecoms companies adversely. She said an EU regulation could also ensure a "home pricing" rule making the charges consumers pay while using a phone abroad the same as those at home.

Reding said when the proposal become law, it will address wholesale and retail prices of mobile calls abroad, which she says are unacceptably high.

She hopes the European Commission will accept the proposal for implementation after further consultation. If accepted, it can come into force next year after approval by member states and the European Parliament.

The European Commission had launched probes into roaming charges levied by different telecoms operators in December 2004 and it had charged Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile unit and Vodafone for overcharging visitors from abroad when they use mobile phones in Germany.

In spite of the action, the commission is not satisfied with the tariff structure. Figures compiled by it show that roaming prices for a four-minute call vary from as little as 0.20 euro cents for a Finnish consumer calling home from Sweden, to 13.05 euros for a Maltese traveller in Latvia.

EU leaders had agreed at a summit last Friday that cutting roaming charges was important for boosting competitiveness.

Saying that the market for international mobile phone calls within the EU is valued at 3-10 billion euros, Reding said the loss in revenues as a result of implementing the proposal can be gained through higher call volumes as the costs would come down.

Mobile phone operators say they have already initiated steps to keep down roaming charges. They aver that calls abroad cost more than domestic call charges because there are additional costs involved in delivering calls through foreign networks.

The GSM Association, the representative trade body, said any new regulation on roaming would increase uncertainty and may put at risk further investment and development of new services.