June/July 2007

Roaming charges for mobile phones used within the European Union are set to fall in August, or even before that. Reductions of up to 70 per cent could be in prospect.

The change results from one of the EU's more memorable moves to support consumer and purchaser rights. It has decreed that mobile phone network operators must offer what is called a Eurotariff, which is currently capped at 49 cents (about 35p) per minute - a rate that will apply for 12 months. Incoming calls have been capped at 24 cents (about 16p).

Some mobile operators have announced reductions in advance of the deadline. Tesco Mobile, a joint venture with O2, claimed to be the first in the UK, launching a tariff of 35p for outgoing calls and 15p for incoming calls from 12 July. It is perhaps notable that these are exactly at the capped limit, apparently ignoring the EU's hope that suppliers 'are expected to compete below this consumer cap.'

Still, the change is significant. Tesco compares its new 35p roaming rate with rates of up to 40p simply to talk across networks within the UK.

However, the pro-competition European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) is not content with the current cap on roaming charges. According to chairman Innocenzo Genna: 'While ECTA welcomes the Commission's moves to reduce mobile roaming rates, we believe the only long-term solution is to encourage the development of pan-European services, which would abolish the concept of roaming once and for all.'

He adds: 'Roaming rates are a symptom not the cause of the problem. The problem is that operators are able to establish artificial national boundaries where none should exist, because there is not sufficient competition within the market. And the reason there is not competition is because non-incumbent mobile operators, which are in a position to create European-wide services, cannot get adequate access to the necessary networks.'

It was not clear when we closed for press how the new regime would affect GPRS roaming rates, which have historically been seen as less weighted against users than normal voice rates.