If, like us, you find roaming charges levied by mobile phone operators to be a tad on the high-side, you’ll be pleased to hear that an EU committee is voting today on European Commission proposals to slash those charges by up to 70%. Brussels bigwigs calculate that European telcos are profiting from roaming to the tune of €8.5b (£5.7b/ $11b).
Euro MP Paul Rubig told the BBC, “We have one member state where at present you pay five euro cents [€0.05] per minute. If you go outside this member state and phone home, you pay three euros [€3]. Nobody can explain why that is the case.”
We think it’s about time this kind of business practice was brought kicking and screaming into the light. Fingers crossed today’s vote goes well.
(Via BBC News)
As hoped, the committee has voted in favour of this bill and it is now due to go before the full European parliament in the next few weeks. We’ll keep you updated.