Prompt's TechBlog
Global mobile foible
28 March 2006
Posted by Dave Wilby
New EU proposals could soon lead to cheaper fees for mobile phone owners making and receiving calls abroad, according to the BBC, and myriad other sources today.
These roaming charges may currently account for a massive 15 per cent of leading mobile operator income, but they also represent a sizeable hidden expenditure for businesses with mobile workforces, and can often make it prohibitively costly for holiday-makers to even turn their phones on while out of the country. After months of warnings, EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding has now called for legislation to slash "unjustifiable" roaming charges to levels consistent with calls made between different networks.
The BBC has reported the mobile industry's global trade body, the GSM Association, as saying any new regulation on roaming would increase uncertainty and may put at risk further investment and development of new services. Draft legislation due to be announced on Tuesday will then be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.
Any resulting recommendations for operator actions are expected to be finalised within months, so there might well be one less excuse for a mobile-free, completely disconnected fortnight in the sun for us all come the summer.
tags: roaming
These roaming charges may currently account for a massive 15 per cent of leading mobile operator income, but they also represent a sizeable hidden expenditure for businesses with mobile workforces, and can often make it prohibitively costly for holiday-makers to even turn their phones on while out of the country. After months of warnings, EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding has now called for legislation to slash "unjustifiable" roaming charges to levels consistent with calls made between different networks.
The BBC has reported the mobile industry's global trade body, the GSM Association, as saying any new regulation on roaming would increase uncertainty and may put at risk further investment and development of new services. Draft legislation due to be announced on Tuesday will then be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.
Any resulting recommendations for operator actions are expected to be finalised within months, so there might well be one less excuse for a mobile-free, completely disconnected fortnight in the sun for us all come the summer.
tags: roaming
# posted by Dave Wilby at 10:42 AM 
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