Slashdot Mirror
EC Calls For End To Mobile Roaming Charges
An anonymous reader writes "European travellers who use their mobile phones abroad could soon see a dramatic reduction in their bills, after the European Commission announced plans to eradicate roaming charges by 2015. In a consultation paper launched yesterday, the EC invited consumers, businesses, telecom operators and public authorities to evaluate the EU's existing roaming rules, and to share their ideas on the best ways to boost competition in roaming services. 'Huge differences between domestic and roaming charges have no place in a true EU Single Market,' said vice-president of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes. 'We need to address the source of current problems, namely a lack of competition, and to find a durable solution. But we are keeping an open mind on exactly what solution would work.'"
This is one of the places where I, for one, would welcome more regulation. The roaming charges are often completely absurd, and I don't see the free market taking care of it anytime soon. Now, if they could fix the roaming charges for data connections outside of the EU too... (over 10€/MB? Seriously?)
European travelers who use their mobile phones abroad could soon see a dramatic reduction in their bills...
I thought the idea behind the creation of the EU was to eliminate the notion of "abroad"?
Last time I went from Norway to the UK, I racked up a 500NOK (about 50GBP/90USD) bill in about half a day of using Google Maps on my iPhone while trying to find my way around. I started around 7:30am walking from Liverpool Street Station and by around 12:30, I got an SMS from my mobile phone service provider that I would soon need to call them to override my "stop limit of 500NOK" if I wanted to continue using data.
Of course, I went to the first open Starbucks, logged on and downloaded a cheap (though almost functional) GPS app for the rest of the day.
I just read an article yesterday that the telephone providers are trying to force Apple and Google to pay for their network upgrades to support all this data traffic. I'm guessing their next thing is to put out a hit on the commission members.
I am suprised that they would work for the common good, rather than the coorporate interest.
The reality though is that 2015 is a loong way away, and by then these costs woudl have collapsed by nature.
Everybody would be walking aroud with an voip phone tapping into free bandwidth. This has already started with android 2.3 and SIP VoIP
G
I know it might be naive, but I assumed that purchasing "international service" meant you had service anywhere in the world just like in your home country. One of my friends spent a month in China over the summer, and I didn't hear him say anything about roaming charges, or anything out of the ordinary.
Similarly, I know that a lot of Canadians who frequent the US will purchase cellular service here, but I assumed that was just because of better service when they're here.
Portugal and Spain are already in talks to end roaming charges between the two countries: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/technology/08roam.html
The paper includes questions about that last frontier of all rip-offs: data traffic.
The prices you pay for phone call roaming have indeed been affected by EU rules, but you now get ripped off over data - the cheapest resource to provide as the whole infrastructure has already moved to IP (that was one of the reasons 2.5G to 3G took so much time - the underlying security model had to be changed). This is partially visible in the VoIP and WiFi comments, so they're not ignorant of the issue - maybe I'm just too picky :-).
I cannot see the paper make a clear distinction between voice and data, but on the other hand, it's not that clear on packing the two together either so if you answer, make the distinction and address both separately.
Insert
You're probably American, and as such it's normal that you travel less outside your own country. Europeans in general travel more frequently to other European countries.
As a European I would never dream of purchasing "international service", not that it exists as a product here, I should not have to. The basic service is not a problem, your phone will work automatically.
When I travel abroad [at least in Europe] I expect to continue using my phone without any interruptions or changes. It works that way too, as every network has some local partner in the foreign country in question. The only issue is with the roaming charges, they can be exorbitant, but at least the EU is looking out for us.
The point is that within the European Union marketplace there is no room [by law] for abusive pricing that treats consumers differently depending on their nationality. The EU's goal is to create one, free market.
Does this mean that you could sign up for the cheapest tariff in Europe (eg SIM via mail order) and use it at the same cost in your own country? If so it will drastically increase competition. Also you would probably be better of for coverage than those using a phone from the same country, because you could roam to any of the networks!
Actually this has been abolished a long time ago here in Scandinavia; Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The same major corporations are present in all the markets anyway. It's much the same as with Spain and Portugal, we're neighbors and speak almost the same languages. People move across the borders at will.
The EU has a mandate to regulate and improve the market conditions in Europe, but I don't see them making any headway outside. After all can you imagine any corporation voluntarily giving away profits?
We can only hope that some enlightened regulator is inspired to act on behalf of his own citizens thus making it possible for similar agreements. I don't have much hope for African markets, but perhaps in some Asian countries and Latin-America?
...I paid £50 for one of the latest (i.e. WAP, 3-band GSM etc.) Motorola Timeport 'phones, and for £12.50/month on a 12 month contract with BT Cellnet I got enough inclusive minutes to cover my light usage when not roaming. Data calls were GSM modem, i.e. slow, but this is 1999. Roaming charges were expensive, but I rarely needed to use my mobile abroad, making this is the cheapest mobile plan I've ever had.
All I've seen in the last decade is contract and call costs steadily increasing, while no data plans cater for the very light user who doesn't need to browse Facebook and watch porn on the move, just regularly send/receive e-mail on a mailbox which he's already run through a text filter to limit to a few kB at most.
And, to put my asshole opinion in :-), I've never met anyone who uses mobile data for anything productive except when the usage case could be (and usually is) catered for with e-mail or some group calendaring system such as Outlook.
When I moved here from the USA, I had to wait a month before I could manage to jailbreak and unlock my AT&T iPhone. During that month, I used up 300 minutes and 200 text messages, with many of the minutes coming from random "blocked" calls I received on my phone that only lasted one minute, and many texts from text spam advertisers. The result? A 600 dollar phone bill.
-- Let us endeavor so to live that when we pass even the undertaker shall be sorry. -- M. Twain
Here in UK there is not even any need to "buy" a SIM - all network operators will hand them out for free. Although you sometimes find arbitragers managing to resell them for a small sum. One of my kids got two free O2 SIMs with a can of energy drink yesterday.
"Don't belong. Never join. Think for yourself. Peace." V.Stone, Microsoft Corporation
I have been on GSM in Europe since the very beginning, a professional traveller.
I perfectly remember roaming rates were widely variable according to the carrier you chose abroad, and soon there were ordered lists that you would enter in your phone to indicate careful preference for carrier X vs Y then Z, for each country. It was somehow painful to enter in the phone, but once only and cool after that.
Then, I *even more perfectly* remember, one day the news unanimously announced, in order to simplify customer experience, all european carriers had agreed onto a clearer and common rate.
Absolutely no one reacted. The rate of course was among the highest (at least, five or ten time higher than the lowest before).
No newspaper claimed this was an illegal arrangement, and neither did the Ms Kroes of the time.
Saying we discover it today is just a shame.
When it was done, it was fully in the open, and no one reacted.
Herve S.
Now if only they would get rid of the first-minute. It's absurd to pay for a whole minute for a 10 second call.
On the contrary. The competition makes sure that prices are lowest where people do have a choice and highest where people don't. When you "remain" with your supplier, your supplier will try to attract you with low prices. When another supplier is forced to use its services, the price is as high as possible. If only so the customer price can be more attractive. This is a result of competition. Competition means customers want freedom and suppliers want lock-ins. And guess who has the advantage? No customer is big enough to build his own alternative network.
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
There are a handful of providers which cover the whole EU continent. They are in every land. If I call from my German Vodafone to Codafone in Greece, I still pay this ridiculous roaming charge.
Roaming fees are purely artificial, not technical.
I live in Norway. I travel throughout Europe, and I never swap my SIM.
Great, so the rest of us non-European cell phone users roaming on foreign networks will have to pay more. They have to make their money somewhere. They will just charge whoever will pay it. The US government won't come to the aid of Americans wanting a reasonable roaming rate so it's almost a guarantee of higher roaming charges!
You were charged for accepting calls and messages?
Having been done by these scalpers twice, who would not know the Golden Rule if it bit them. Can I suggest that some pharmaceutical company could work on a greed reduction pill.
It's called an elephant's trunk whereas it is in fact, an elephant's nose, a nose by any other name would smell as sweet
The EU politians and bureaucrats care about this mainly because they see it, they're hopping countries several days a work week from say Germany to Belgium to France to Luxemburg on EU business and even if they expense their own bills their friends and visitors may not be able to do it. The hypocritical aspect is there's plenty of comparable rip offs in the EU that the same people have had a hand in creating themselves, high sales tax on almost everything (~20%). But they need those taxes to pay their own salaries. However with a bit of clever operator picking roaming charges aren't that bad. "Three" for instance give same cost roaming in countries where they operate (Italy, Austria, UK, Ireland and some others) Vodafone provide a reasonable way of roaming in practically every EU country through their vodafone live service at about 3 euro a day for 50M. Sure you end up swapping sim cards - but that's not a big deal. What the EU will do is likely to force down roaming costs for the few but slighly increase more typical user costs as company strive to maintain profits. Chances are they'll also increase prices for those people who know their way around the various network schemes.
Many countries i visit have the exact same companies operating the mobile networks, and yet they still charge extortionate fees... If you were to buy the most expensive prepaid service in the country your visiting it would still be cheaper than roaming...
So given that the operator is clearly willing to offer service at such rates, it's purely a ripoff that roaming is so expensive. It's not like your getting anything extra, since while your roaming you clearly aren't using the service in your home country either.
Incidentally, i think blackberry have deals with various carriers for data usage, since blackberry roaming data seems to be a LOT cheaper than regular data roaming services.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
I thought the EU cellphone market was much better than in the US. Every time something negative about the US cellphone market comes up there are dozens of comments along the lines of, "Why is the US so backwards?" Well my question is, why is the EU so backwards? The U.S. market did away with roaming charges a long time ago and it didn't require any government intervention. The free market did it all on its own. So, if the free market could do it in the US, what's wrong with the EU that prevents the free market from doing it there? (I'll give you a hint, it probably has something to do with government regulation).
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
It's the American way. I still don't get it as the poster says he racked up a 600 dollar bill through no fault of his own. That blows cock.
I recently visited the US last month from Canada where I live. I left my cell phone off the entire trip. Were I to turn it on and actually use it I would be hit with the most draconian fees you ever did see....
So its not different across the pond. In fact if I were a betting man, I would say it is far worse.
I can only hope that Canada/US will finally drop the roaming BS. I mean really I don't understand it. I am with Bell Canada. There is a Bell in the US. Seriously stop screwing people already!
While I certainly applaud moves to reduce the roaming rip-off within the EU, the downside to this is that, in order to make up for their lost profits, the mobile companies significantly increase their charges if you leave the EU. Two years ago, I could make calls in the USA with my T-Mobile UK phone for a vaguely reasonable 55p/minute. Now, that price has skyrocketed to £1.20/minute. Other providers are even worse, with O2 charging nearly £1.40/minute for the same call. I hope we're not going to be significantly penalised again for non-EU roaming if these changes make it into law.
Being charged to accept calls is the norm in the USA. You will be charged to receive calls and messages either in monetary amounts or minutes deducted from your allocation.
It seems insane to use here in Europe.
pharmaceutical company .... greed reduction pill.
That seems ironic. Talk about not eating your own dogfood. :P
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
Saying we discover it today is just a shame.
When it was done, it was fully in the open, and no one reacted.
Thank you for mentioning this. This is historically significant.
However, from you own account, it hardly qualifies as having been done in the open. They ostensibly and hypocritically presented an act which turned out to be of collusion as a one of collaborative rationalization. At the time, I assume it would have been easy to greet the announcement as good news.
This might sound petty a point to make, but the nuance has legal, as well as public relations, ramifications.
Let me tell you the telecom success story of India.I have listed cents as USD cents
Back in the day(5-6 years or slightly more), call rates were around 10rs/min (20c/min) for outgoing and Long distance was even more. Some carriers charged for incoming too
Then came the first shakedown around 2003, when call rates dropped to 2rs/minute for all calls. and even on roaming.
In the recent shakedown, the latest fad is per second billing
So its 1p/second 100p = 1rs = 2cents
So basically you pay per second. It comes to around 60p (1.2 cents/min)
Incoming is free. When you roam, you pay 1p/sec incoming, and outgoing remains the same.
However, international roaming is still expensive. Due to this reason smartphone owners go to WIFI and use SKYPE etc.,
Now there is a push in India among mobile operators to offer international roaming at rs 2/minute or even less.
With calling cards and "third party services" getting a major long distance revenue, the mobile companies are waking up.
And wait... there was no regulation, just competition, lots of competition.
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
No, that is not accurate and quite frankly an ignorant American idea. In terms of distance and size European countries are similar to states in the US, however it is far from accurate.
European countries are sovereign and have their own languages, cultures, ethnic groups, legal systems, different forms of democracy. A person cannot move from Spain to Sweden and continue living as before.
American states are mere geographic units by comparison, I do realize your states have their own powers, but people move freely between them. A European is more likely to never live outside his own country or culture.
More importantly telecom providers operate in national markets, as opposed to continent-wide systems like in the United States.
A few larger corporations operate in many European markets, but none of them operate in all, far from it. There is no network of similar size to Verizon or AT&T. However each market is better served with smaller but more efficient networks. Of course the same companies operate globally and rival the Americans in revenue and size in that respect.
I'm afraid you have it all backwards. Ironically, you [the US] are the exception to that rule.
The vast majority of the world uses the European GSM standard, and the US, Korea and Japan used CDMA.
Vodafone Group is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company, and in the American market it used the "native" CDMA-system.
In 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless.
In all the other markets Vodafone operates it uses GSM. It's American consumers that need to change phones when they go abroad.
However you might have heard about the different frequencies GSM can operate on (800/900/1800/1900), national markets often allocated frequencies differently, but this issue was resolved years ago by multi-frequency phones.
I'd insist hypocrisy was obvious: after all, the minimum roaming rate was boosted by a factor 5 or 10.
The fact is, Press didn't comment on this because one must remember at the time -at least in Europe, having a GSM was still a recent luxury to some extent, so those that in addition would regularly travel abroad... were let's say not your average multiple-phone-Joe...
Herve S.