Mobile operators meet EU roaming rules

A month after the European Union roaming charge price caps came into force, most operators are meeting or exceeding the cuts, with UK mobile operator 3 leading the pack with the cheapest call rates, according to a European Commission survey.

Along with the majority of operators across the EU, Orange and T-Mobile have met the new regulation, which will limit charges for calls made abroad to a set "Eurotariff" of .49 a minute and calls received to .24 a minute. Vodafone is just under the limit, while Virgin Mobile, 02 and 3 are both charging much less. Indeed, according to the survey, 3 is charging the smallest rate across the 27 member-bloc, at 0.3157 and 0.1263.

Virgin Mobile did not respond to the survey, but a spokesperson for the operator said they did not receive the questionnaire. However, Virgin cut its rates to meet the regulations, the operator said.

"Today, just one month after the new EU rules on mobile roaming charges came into force, around 50% of consumers in Europe are already profiting from substantially reduced tariffs," said Viviane Reding, EU Telecom Commissioner. "The interplay between regulation and the voluntary anticipation of the regulated tariffs by industry appears to benefit consumers, as envisaged by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers."

The European Commission sent out the questionnaire to 95 operators, receiving responses from 74. The commission said the survey results were positive, with many operators offering the Eurotariff ahead of time or below the set rate, or automatically switching their customers to the lower rate.

"I welcome in particular that many operators offered the new Eurotariff as the holiday season began, and that some even went substantially below the regulation's price ceilings," said Reding.

There were a few negative points, including Cytamobile in Cyrpus refusing to offer the lower rates until the end of August, a month behind the new rule.

"Only in a few cases - the exception rather than the rule - we note attempts to delay the effects of the regulation by non-transparent or possibly even anti-competitive behaviour," said Reding. "These will have to be analysed very carefully by national and European regulators. If we find evidence for behaviour that violates the law, the EU Roaming Regulation foresees sanctions which could be complemented by the full force of competition law."

If the rules of the roaming regulation are not met, it's up to national regulators to issue penalties, the commission said.

The commission said it will do a more detailed evaluation in October, which will be presented to the EU council of ministers, and will help decide whether the cuts need to apply to roaming SMS, MMS and data charges.