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European Parliament Approves Limits on Wireless Roaming Fees

11:22 pm on May 24, 2007 | Category: Business, Regulation, Telecom Services, Wireless

As expected, the European Parliament has approved new regulations limiting the â€œroaming feesâ€ charged to mobile phone users traveling within Europe.

”This is a victory for the travelers and most of all for the business travelers” who ”have extraordinary high costs,” commented EU telecommunications commissioner, Viviane Reding, who backed the proposal. European telecom ministers will hold a final vote on the measure in Luxembourg on June 7.

The new law will cut roaming fees by more than half, setting maximum limits of â‚¬0.49/minute to make a call, and â‚¬0.24/minute for incoming usage. At the time these limits were first proposed, the average cost of a roaming call within Europe was â‚¬1.15/minute.

Major wireless operators like Vodafone and T-Mobile have since lowered rates voluntarily, introducing special calling plans for travelers, but say that placing caps on roaming fees could damage competition in Europe’s wireless market.

The GSM Association agrees with this sentiment, especially in relation to a clause that would see roaming charges further reduced over the next two years.

”The proposed annual decreases in these price caps appear to be arbitrary and bear no relation to the expected evolution of roaming costs,” the association said in a statement.

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