Monti targets ‘roaming’ fees for phones

Date: 30/09/1999

By Peter Chapman

COMPETITION Commissioner Mario Monti is to demand that mobile telephone operators justify the high price of making calls abroad.

The move follows complaints from customers who have received huge bills after taking advantage of the service known as 'roaming', which allows them to use their GSM phones on a foreign network.

This system, which has been a boon to globetrotting business executives and tourists, works on the basis of agreements between mobile companies to carry calls from customers in each others' territory.

But a study for the European Commission's telecoms department by consultants Analyses and law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey has raised questions about whether the high charges levied on customers are justified.

"The premium prices associated with making and receiving calls when roaming can be quite a shock to consumers of mobile services. It is important that the scale of roaming charges is made explicit to consumers when they use their phones abroad for the first time," states the report.

It points out that call charges include fees levied by both the foreign and 'home' operator, adding that the latter often adds an extra handling charge. 'Roaming' customers are also often asked to pay a deposit in advance of using their phones abroad, further discouraging consumers.

One possible option, states to the report, would be to introduce an EU-approved inter-operator tariff for roaming. This tariff, which the Commission is said to be considering, "should result in lower prices for consumers in the European Union"

Commission competition spokesman Stefan Rating confirmed this week that officials planned to quiz operators on their foreign charging practices as part of a slate of probes into telecoms pricing.

Competition Commissioner Mario Monti is to demand that mobile telephone operators justify the high price of making calls abroad.