European Commission plans to end mobile roaming "rip off"

EC prepares to step in amid claims that mobile operators have failed to self-regulate charges

Janie Davies, Computing 15 Jul 2008

The European Commission (EC) is taking action over "bill shocks" suffered by customers when mobile roaming charges are imposed for texting or web surfing in other European countries.

The Commission wants to ensure that a truly single market for mobile text services is in operateion and could propose new measures to the European Parliament and Council of the European Union within weeks.

High charges and lack of transparency is not just a consumer problem, it could also hit businesses, said EC president José Manuel Barroso.

“Europe's single market should be allowed to play its part, making sure that no borders re-appear on travellers' phone bills,” he said.

“I am particularly concerned by the high prices paid by consumers for text messages when they are travelling abroad. There is also a danger that European businesses are put off by non-transparent roaming costs for mobile data services."

Despite calls for the industry to introduce self-regulation, the average cost of a roaming text message in the EU between October 2007 and March 2008 was €0.29 according to the European Regulators’ Group (ERG), but this can rise to €0.80 for travellers from Belgium.

“EU citizens should be free to text across borders without being ripped off. It is not a good sign for the competitiveness of Europe's mobile industry that it still hasn't got the message that credible price reductions are needed to avoid regulation," said European telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding.

"I will therefore recommend to my fellow Commissioners that we propose a regulation of SMS roaming in October."

The ERG also flagged the issue and is suggesting a price cap per message sent.

"In the view of the ERG, a price cap between €0.11 and €0.15 per SMS would be appropriate," said Dániel Pataki, chairman of the ERG and head of the Hungarian National Communications Authority.

Rob Barnes, head of broadband and mobiles at price comparison web site Moneysupermarket.com, said: “Although ideally this should have been introduced last summer at the same time as the cap on calls, this is great news for anyone who uses their mobile abroad.

“However, it’s a shame the providers weren’t responsible enough to lower charges themselves so consumers could have made savings this summer instead of having to wait for regulation. It will be interesting to see if providers try to recoup losses elsewhere as a result.”

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