Mobile phones - the roaming fees you will pay this summer are a real bummer
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Roaming fees have been in the headlines across European countries for quite a while. One reason most certainly is that with summer vacation having started, many consumers will again be surprised about the cost of using their mobile phones whilst being abroad during their vacation. The European Commission has been trying hard to get these charges reduced. The roaming issues is a rare example of a policy made in Brussels that puts the EU on the side of ordinary citizens. Something needed after voters having turned down the proposed European Constitution in several countries last year.
Viviane Reding, the media-savvy European Union telecoms commissioner knows this very well. The public support and media attention may have also supported her efforts in convincing her boss José Manuel Barroso, The European Commission president, to support the regulation of ‘roaming’ fees charged for international calls .
The philosophy behind the regulation is that it should help about creating a market that functions. Therefore, the legislation is not about intervention as some operators would make us want to believe. And it can work very well for business users and consumers if implemented. For instance, In 2001 the EU used an EU regulation to eliminate the price difference between domestic and cross-border bank transfers.
At the time, the “claw back� argument was used by the banking industry suggesting that that charges for domestic bank transfers would be raised following the entry into force of the EU regulation.
But as the study below illustrates, nothing like that happened. In turn, this brought EU consumers and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) low fees for payments made from their bank accounts all across the 25 Member States. In contrast, the Swiss still pay anywhere from Euro 20 and up for transfering money to an EU e-commerce website operator:
However, roaming fees are very high and so the European Commission thought it best to get into the act and achieve similar good things for consumers and business users as it did with the above regulation:
If you want to check how much on average you are paying for receiving a call at the beach from one of your pals at home, check out:
The document illustrates nicely that whilst the Commission proposes a 16.5 cent ceiling for receiving a call per minute, most users are charged a multiple of that fee these days (e.g., Germany 69 cents per minute).
Calling home from Greece,Spain or Italy is, however even worse. It will cost a German tourist at least Euro 3.00 per minute but more likely about Euro 4.00. If the proposed legislation is approved by the European parliament, against intense lobbying from the industry, this price will drop to about .59 cents. Calculate what you will pay this summer with the help of this rate chart:
If you are interested in reading the proposed legislation, you can find it here:
So be careful when using your mobile to place or receive calls whilst being on vacation. This will help you in avoiding nasty surprises looking at your bill when getting home.
PS. Even if the regulation passes it is unlikely that it will be in force before October 2007, so there will surely be another summer with high roaming fees in the cards. If you want to see how hard the industry is lobbying against this proposed legislation, just have a look here:
Some of you may want to avoid this roaming charges issue by purchasing a pre-paid card in the country you are visiting. While this will make sure that you do not get charged for incoming calls, most operators offer SIM cards whose credit balance expires after 12 months of purchase if not sooner. Hence, unless you return within a year to your holiday spot it is best to purchase a card that does either not expire or where you know you will use up the balance before you leave.
A1, CyTRAP labs, CyTRAP Labs ratgeber, Deutschland, European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, Miscellaneous, mobile, ratgeber, regulation, roaming fees, smartphone, T Mobile, Viviane Redding, Vodafone
