March 21, 2005
Roaming' charges: an obstacle to a Europe-wide mobile phone network
Is EU legislation needed to stop exploitation of mobile phone users when 'roaming'? Telecommunications experts discussed the main issues with MEPs at a public hearing held on Wednesday by Parliament's Internal Market and Industry Committees, reports Europarl.
"'Roaming' means the use of mobile phones on foreign networks to make or receive calls or to transfer data. Among the problems: users may have to pay a large part of the cost of a call received from their home country when they are outside its borders.
Since 1998, reports by the International Telecommunication Users Group (INTUG) on excessive charges for 'roaming' calls have bemoaned this 'major problem'. They say the system operated in the EU is a 'veritable cartel' in comparison to the continent-wide tariff system in the United States."
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