By Martin Banks - 22nd April 2009
There is still more to deliver for consumers
Arlene McCarthy
Plans to cut the cost of roaming charges for calling, texting and internet surfing on mobile phones have been warmly welcomed by MEPs.
As a result of the measures, new rates for 'roaming' calls - calls made from abroad - will come into force across the EU this summer.
The cost of such calls will drop continuously over the next three years so that by July 2011 outgoing calls will cost a maximum of 35 cents per minute and incoming calls a maximum of 11 cents per minute.
Texting while abroad will cost a maximum of 11 cents from this July. The maximum cost of other data roaming services such as sending emails and web-browsing will drop from €1 per megabyte from July to 50 cents per megabyte from July 2011.
The new rules, part of the so-called telecoms package, follow a provisional deal reached in March by representatives of parliament, member states and the commission.
They were approved on Wednesday by MEPs during parliament's Strasbourg plenary.
Reaction to the outcome was swift with UK Socialist deputy Arlene McCarthy, chair of the internal market and consumer protection committee, saying, "In 2007 we introduced the regulation on mobile phone roaming charges for voice calls across Europe which has successfully slashed the cost of roaming calls. Consumers have reaped the benefits with 60 per cent cuts in costs.
"Consumers, however, continue to be charged up to 10 times more than domestic rates for sending texts. We gave industry the chance to voluntarily reduce the costs of text roaming or face further action.
"Their failure to respond means that we have been left no choice but to legislate to protect consumers and use this law to force the industry to reduce their charges."
The new legislation will also introduce a new system of transparency for so-called 'data roaming'.
McCarthy said “There is still more to deliver for consumers, we must also tackle overcharging for data roaming. In a recent example, a constituent had been charged over €1,000 for accessing the internet twice from their mobile while on holiday. ”
Further reaction came from Finnish deputy Reino Paasilinna, Socialist shadow rapporteur on parliament's industry committee, who said, "We have seen to it that cheaper mobile phone calls and texts will come into force in time for this summer's holiday.
"The prices will start dropping from 1 July, providing real savings for holidaymakers.
"We would like to go further but our compromise will help consumers by a long way."
He agrees with McCarthy that more needs to be done on the cost of data roaming, saying," “There is still more to deliver for consumers. We have agreed on transparency, but in the long run, we must also tackle overcharging for data roaming.
"Many EU citizens would expect to access the internet on holiday, and they should not pay a ridiculously high charge for this."
ALDE MEP Adina Valean said, "Failures in this market created a real need for regulation but I am also looking forward to increased competition as well as the review we have called for seeking alternative options for regulating roaming services in the future."
The decision was also welcomed by the European Consumers' Organisation (BUEC), whose director general, Monique Goyens said, "Parliament has put consumer interests first by adopting the new regulation on voice, data and SMS roaming.
"On voice calls consumers will finally pay the actual time they have used as the billing will be per second and not per minute. Parliament has ensured that consumers enjoying a holiday abroad this summer will not be shocked by extortionate phone bills when they return home and this is to be warmly welcomed.
"Using your mobile phone abroad should not cost much more then using it in our own country: it is the same technology and in many instances even the same company.
She added, "However, concerning data roaming, the best deal has not been reached.
"Even if a wholesale price has been limited to €1 and a cut-off limit has been put in place, there will be no retail prices ensuring consumers will really benefit from significant price reduction."
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