Operators take action on roaming
Vodafone, T-Mobile and Telefonica-O2 all cut prices
O2 has become the latest operator to announce changes to its romaing tariffs, following announcements at the start of the week by Vodafone and T-Mobile.
The price cuts are not unrelated to pressure from the EU on operators to reduce roaming charges, although the operators naturally portray them as nothing of the sort.
Vodafone has said customers on its Passport package will receive 40% discounts by April of next year.
T-Mobile has said it will introduce a flat rate of 55p per minute from 1st June this year for all customers roaming in 29 European countries and the USA and Canada. Customers do nt need to be on any specific tariff, and the new rate represents cuts of 45% for pre-pay customers.
Jim Hyde, Managing Director of T-Mobile UK, said, "For a long time, we've said roaming rates are too high. We have not needed regulation to encourage us to cut roaming costs. At present too many mobile customers just don't use their phones abroad. That acts against their interests - and against ours."
O2 and Telefonica Moviles have said that, from late this year, if customers join a "high roamer" tariff, they will not be charged for incoming calls whist roaming. They have also cut the flat rate roaming charge for UK customers to 35p per minute. These two changes are part of a roaming campaign called "my Europe."
Details of the two main My Europe offerings are as follows:
* Aimed primarily at holidaymakers and available from the Summer, a free opt-in price plan for all pre and post-pay customers, offering outbound and inbound voice calls for a fee of between €0.50 and €0.59 per minute across all EU territories, regardless of network. Representing savings of more than 60 per cent over existing price plans, this service is available to all Telefónica Group European customers in Spain, the UK, Germany, Ireland and the Czech Republic.
* The 'high roamer' service will be aimed at post-pay customers who travel abroad frequently. For a monthly connection charge determined by the local O2/Telefónica Móviles network operator, a customer can select a country or group of countries where outbound voice calls to other EU territories will be at prices comparable with domestic call rates, while all inbound calls will be free.
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