Bid to end mobile phone roaming charges fails

Published on 29/02/2012 02:54

A BID to scrap all mobile phone “roaming” charges by 2014 has been defeated as a war of words broke out between the European Commission and Vodafone over a continued crackdown on the sector.

Compulsory maximum roaming rates were first imposed on mobile network operators nearly five years ago to tackle what the commission called the “roaming rip-off” – the operators were said to be making profits of more than 200 per cent for mobile calls made while in another EU country, and 300 per cent or 400 per cent for calls received.

Today the gap between domestic and “roaming” call charges has fallen by about 75 per cent compared with 2007, with digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes vowing to reduce the gap to “almost nothing” by 2015.

Now a committee of MEPs has rejected pressure to eliminate the difference by 2014, recommending instead another round of charge cuts this summer.

“There’s no need for phone companies to have any roaming charges at all,” said Labour’s Peter Skinner. But he said a compromise reached by the European Parliament’s Industry Committee would bring down rates further if adopted by EU governments.

He went on: “Phone companies are still using international travel as a way of ripping off customers. Airwaves know no international borders so it’s crazy for customers to pay loads for a phone call from Dover to Calais 21 miles away, while Dover to the Shetlands, hundreds of miles away, costs much less.”

Mr Skinner added: “I call on communications minister Ed Vaizey to get the British government to support consumers’ rights and not cave into pressure from their supporters who run the mobile phone industry.”

The EU has complained that putting a price cap on charges has not removed the problem of open competition because operators all generally charge at the top of the price cap