European consumers are currently billed for some 24% more than the time they actually spend on the phone during cross-border calls, according to figures released by EU telecom regulators on Thursday (28 August).
The European Regulators Group (ERG), the body which brings together telecoms authorities from the 27 EU member states, said bills are also on average 19% higher for calls received from abroad. The gap is even wider in countries such as Malta, Austria and Poland, the figures showed.
Martin Selmayr, spokesperson for Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding, said the Commission considered the figures "worrying".
When tariffs are billed per-minute, a call lasting a minute and 20 seconds counts as a two-minute call, the Commission explained, meaning consumers are paying for seconds they do not use. Per-second tariffs would avoid these unbalances but are currently applied to domestic calls only.
Asked whether the Commission intends to abolish per-minute roaming tariffs, Selmayr said: "It is difficult to do something at national level. If you want to tackle this issue you have to tackle it in the EU legislation. This is what the Commission will consider in the weeks to come." The announcement will be made at the end of September or at the beginning of October, when Reding presents the so-called "Roaming Regulation II", which could extend roaming caps "in time and in scope".
Telecom operators labelled the initiative "micro-management", saying it would ultimately hamper competition.
The Commission is aiming to prolong the current system of price ceilings for roaming calls beyond 2010. Meanwhile, a second step in the EU's current roaming legislation will begin on 30 August when the Eurotariff will be lowered from €0.49 to €0.46 par minute for making a call, and from €0.24 to €0.22 for receiving a call. Prices exclude VAT.
In addition, the Commission said it intends to put a price cap also on text messages. Despite strong opposition from the industry, Reding has already made clear that the measure will be applied, announcing price cuts of up to 70% (EurActiv 15/07/08).
In the meantime, ceilings on "data roaming" - the transfer of anything from video to spreadsheets - are still under debate. Industry sources point out that according to the latest ERG figures, prices for downloading pictures or news on mobile phones when abroad are decreasing. But the Commission underlined in a press release that the "cost of data roaming is still very high for many consumers".
