Mobile-roaming cuts hailed success
Published: 08 Oct 2007 12:14 BST
The European Commission has hailed its efforts to reduce rip-off mobile-roaming rates as a success, claiming consumer prices having fallen by up to 60 percent since new regulations were introduced.
The EU Roaming Regulation came into force in the summer, requiring mobile operators to introduce a cheaper "Eurotariff" for roaming customers.
Research carried out by the 27 national telecom regulators that form the European Regulators Group (ERG) and the European Commission claims the introduction of Eurotariff is going to plan.
The research found mobile operators have generally complied with the requirement to offer a Eurotariff — where rates don't exceed €0.40 per minute for calls made abroad or €0.24 per minute for received calls.
By 30 August this year, around 200 million consumers had switched to a Eurotariff with many operators offering lower rates sooner than required.
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Viviane Reding, the EU telecoms commissioner, said the Eurotariff is now the standard rate for roaming, one of the aims of the Commission's roaming regulation.
She said there are some remaining issues with the transparency of price offers, but she is convinced the national regulators will "take this in hand as soon as possible".
The lowest roaming tariffs are in the Netherlands, where rates are as low as €0.20 per minute for calls made and received. The Eurotariff is due to be further reduced in 2008 and 2009.
The Commission will also launch a study into the price of SMS and data roaming, with a report from the ERG expected in December.
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