June 2, 2006
Under EU pressure, mobile operators slash roaming fees
Bowing to pressure from EU competition authorities, six European mobile telephone operators (T-Mobile, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telenor, TeliaSonera and Wind) announced that they had taken steps to reduce the cost for consumers of making mobile phone calls when travelling abroad. [via the AFP]
"According to commission data, the international roaming prices for making a four-minute peak-time call from abroad in Europe in October 2005 were on average between four and six euros (five to 7.70 dollars).
Some calls cost as much as 13 euros, and consumers are also charged a "considerable" amount for receiving a call on their mobile phone while abroad.
The six European operators agreed to cap the average wholesale rates they offer each other for providing roaming services at 0.45 euros per minute as of October 2006 and 0.36 euros per minute from October 2007."
Related articles:
-- EU crackdown on call charges abroad
-- Ireland puts roaming proposal to EU leaders
-- Watchdogs back EU move to cut mobile phone fees
-- French competition watchdog in favour of wholesale text msg cost cuts
-- Watchdogs back EU move to cut mobile phone fees
-- European ruling set to cut cost of using mobile phones abroad
-- Ofcom looks into roaming mobile charges
-- Britons 'fleeced' for right to roam with mobiles
-- Roaming' charges: an obstacle to a Europe-wide mobile phone network
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