Operators must cut roaming rates, says EC
Stronger competition is needed in the EU roaming market to provide more choice and better rates to consumers, according to a new European Commission (EC) report. Although mobile operators have reduced their roaming charges in line with the maximum price caps established by EU rules – amended last year – customers still do not enjoy significantly lower tariffs than those imposed by the rules, according to the EC's interim roaming report.
The cost of roaming calls and sending text messages has fallen by more than 70 per cent and 60 per cent respectively since 2005. However, the market is still not competitive enough to provide the best choice to consumers, as retail prices ‘tend to cluster around the EU regulated maximum price caps’.
‘In the Commission's view, EU rules give operators plenty of margin to offer more attractive roaming tariffs below the regulatory limits,’ states the report, which wants to see the difference between roaming and national tariffs ‘approach zero’ by 2015. For data roaming, the report says wholesale prices have fallen to ‘well below’ the EU maximum but the Commission ‘expects operators to pass on savings at wholesale level to consumers as lower retail prices’.
The report also reveals that customers are making more use of roaming services, with overall volumes of calls received and text messages sent while abroad increasing over the last two years despite an estimated 12 per cent decline in travel. Twenty per cent more text messages were sent in the summer of 2009 than the previous summer and last year also saw data roaming services grow by more than 40 per cent in volume terms. ‘As smart phones and other hand-held devices become more widespread, this trend is expected to continue,’ says the report. The Commission will review the roaming rules next year.
