- Published: 24.01.2007.
Members of the European Parliament Call for Cut Back in Roaming Prices
At a hearing organized by the European parliament to discuss roaming with industry and NGOs, MEPs embraced the idea of a Europe-wide limit on how much telecom companies can charge customers for using their phones abroad.
Conservative MEP Paul Rübig, who is rapporteur on the dossier, welcomed the proposal tabled by EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding to cut prices on roaming.
He stressed the need for more transparency in retail prices for roaming and said the “unjustified high prices” for roaming must be cut.
Reding said that she was cooperating with the German presidency in order to finalize the necessary regulation by July.
As an illustration of the high prices charged by telecom companies, the MEP mentioned an Austrian journalist who followed the Tour de France for a month and ended up paying €9,000 for his use of his mobile and internet.
Rübig’s report is up for a vote on 12 April in parliament’s industry, research and energy committee.
Roaming prices in Europe are 3 - 4 times as high as national calls, i.e. EUR 3 – 12 per minute. The European Commission has been insisting on a price cut back for quite some time.