European visitors may face higher roaming costs

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Brits travelling around Europe in the future won't have to incur exorbitant roaming costs due to price controls approved by the European Parliament last week, but what's a benefit for them could be to the detriment of others, warns Informa Telecoms and Media.

Non-Europeans visiting Europe could feel the pinch of higher mobile roaming charges as operators ramp up the wholesale prices they charge other players whose customers make use of their network.

"What we are beginning to see here is the emergence of a two-tier market for roaming services," said Informa's Mark Newman.

"With the new price caps and the emergence of pan-European groups such as Vodafone, Telefonica/O2 and Orange, Europe is going to start resembling a single market in terms of retail prices. Countries such as the US and India already have national roaming markets where people can make calls on other operators' networks without incurring higher charges. The same is also beginning to happen in Greater China. However, when people want to use their phones outside of their countries or regional groupings they will pay a substantial premium."

Informa is not the only party with concerns about how proposed price caps - which could cut tarrifs by as much as 70 per cent from this summer - will affect the industry as a whole.

The GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association for mobile operators, responded to the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) committee's decision by issuing a statement saying that it "believes that the dynamic and competitive European mobile market could be seriously harmed by many of the amendments to the proposed roaming regulation adopted by the ITRE committee of the European Parliament today."

The statement added: "If these amendments are approved by the plenary vote in the European Parliament, scheduled for May, the proposed regulation would introduce distortions into the roaming market that will remove incentives for operators to invest and compete, which will penalise a large number of mobile users."

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