July 31, 2007
No let up for mobile phone companies
The EU’s “roaming” saga just refuses to end.
To recap: the union passed a law in June that forces mobile phone companies to slash highly-lucrative roaming fees. These are the rates customers pay to use their phones while visiting another EU country.
By yesterday, operators should have informed customers about the new, capped prices. (If you live in the UK, follow this link to see the deals on offer)
So, is this the final curtain for this lengthy drama, in which Viviane Reding, the pugnacious, headline-grabbing EU telecoms commissioner, has taken on companies such as France Telecom and Vodafone?
Apparently not. Brussels can’t resist one more bite at the cherry. This week it plans to name and shame companies that have yet to meet the deadline/given customers adequate information on their options.
It is also expected to reveal which telecoms companies are going beyond the spirit of the law, by offering lower rates than the mandated “eurotariff”.
Clever. After all, the legislation is hugely popular with consumers who have long felt that information on roaming is murky and that they are ripped off when making holiday phone calls.
What’s more, this week’s move (at the height of the holiday season) exerts yet more pressure on the telecoms companies to cut prices further.
And it shows that Brussels is not letting up. Next, it has threatened to regulate text messaging and data roaming fees…
Very clever. Reding is a Commissioner who is on a roll, hitting all the right notes, as she sees it. She has real momentum going into the review of the regulatory framework for telecoms, although I suspect she may get a bloody nose on her plans to mandate a single standard for mobile TV.
But compare her profile with Dimas, McCreevy, or even Verheugen. She’s top dog right now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her stay on at the Commission for a third term…
Posted by: Insideur | July 31st, 2007 at 8:07 pm | Report this commentA month or so ago, my operator, T-Mobile, informed me that domestic calls would rise in price by 25%. This week it informed me that calls from abroad would cost much less. So, I lose out for the 49 weeks of the year that I am in the UK - but make a bit of that back in the other three? In her pursuit of headlines, Ms Reding has forgotten that plcs dislike having their profits clipped and so find them elsewhere. Or maybe she doesn’t care - so long as the EU is seen to be doing something.
Posted by: Caroline Hope | August 2nd, 2007 at 12:07 pm | Report this commentCaroline that point was made quite clearly to the Commission, EP, and Council during the legislative process, and indeed before the legislative process. The view that was taken by Reding was that she was happy to see price rises in other, more transparent parts of the service offering. The big issue with international roaming was the total lack of any decent information or predictability on the charges.
I think everyone has always understood that the companies would continue to make their money elsewhere. This was never about making them unprofitable.
Posted by: Chris Sherwood | August 2nd, 2007 at 3:18 pm | Report this commentDoes Mr Sherwood’s employer know he spends the working day trying to stick up for the EU on various blogs? Or is he in fact employed the EU? If the latter, he should declare his interest. If the former, he should be given more work to do. (I can’t speak for anyone else here but I’m self-employed. And not pleased about my phone bill.)
Posted by: Just another EU serf | August 2nd, 2007 at 3:56 pm | Report this commentEurope ( and the USA and the rest of the world) needs a truly open “video-conference mobile devices option”, with real time video-conference,3d,data-stocks-info-etc.-voice and real time translators ,with Linux,MS,Symbian,Palm or your platform, that’s what we all can use , and able to use cognitive radios and White Space spectrum ( between TV signals like HP,Dell,Intel,Google,MS,etc. are pushing) and Europe and the rest of the world needs an honest competition between Intel and AMD and any other chip CPU manufacturer, we need choices an open networks, we also need new battery technology and easy apps. for 3d and video-animation-avatar production to visualize new products and techs., the “new mobile office” is the motor of the new Economy , right now Europe !!!
…in the meantime China is installing oil/gas rigs,base-stations,roads and electrical grids in Chad,Sudan, Cameroon, all over Africa, while here in EU and USA our “politicos” are….what are they doing ??? no geothermal,no fusion,no turbines for wind and water, no E-85 or HYDROGEN or electric chargers in gas stations, no solar in roofs and gardens, nothing !,shame !
Posted by: blogger | August 14th, 2007 at 5:19 pm | Report this comment