Topping up your mobile phone

Edgar Scicluna writes:
One of the subjects I know you are looking into is that of mobile phones service regarding high tariffs. What I would like to know is whether it is legal to sell a mobile line and, if you do not use the credits or do not top it up after a certain period, the line expires and you have to buy a new one.

My son had a mobile which he only used when he really had to. Yet, because he was very cautious not to waste his credits, he lost the service.

In the UK, for example, a friend of mine has a mobile and only uses it when he really needs to and in three years he never had to top it up or renew the line.

I bought a mobile in the UK with a Virgin SIM card and after two years, when I went back to the UK, I used the same card with the credit it had and was even able to top it up.

It seems unfair that when you buy a line, you are forced to put more money into your account or the service, whether you have credit or not, will expire.

It looks like it is another thing which happens only in Malta.

I would be obliged if you can enlighten me on this matter.

In synthesis, the reader is asking whether it is legal, for the mobile companies, to sell a mobile line and later remove the service if the customer does not use the credit or does not top up after a certain period of time.

My understanding is that, as such, there is nothing illegal in this practice. There is nothing in EU telecoms law that prevents it. Moreover, it appears that this practice does take place in other countries as well, although it has decreased because competition is pushing service providers to offer better deals, including longer time windows within which you can top up your credit. Indeed, as the reader points out, in the UK, some companies now provide a very long time window as part of their service.

Although one can understand that from the customer's point of view a short time window is inconvenient, one has to appreciate that from the point of view of the mobile telephone companies there is a cost to a telephone line irrespective of whether it is being used or not.

Telephone lines are not just a telephone number and they are not infinite.

Therefore, a mobile company may not necessarily afford to have thousands of lines that are only being used to receive calls or are only being sparsely used such as during holidays abroad. More so in the case of Malta, where the networks are smaller than those abroad.

So I would suppose that this practice can be justified in terms of costs and seeks to discourage customers from keeping telephone lines they do not use with some degree of regularity.

There are another two points.

The first is that, as such, this can be seen as a contractual matter and it depends on the type of contract that you enter into with your mobile telephone company. If this matter is included as a contractual condition then the company is entitled to remove your service after the time window lapses.

Secondly, I looked into whether there are elements of abuse of dominance (since in Malta there are only two dominant companies providing mobile telephony service) and whether this kind of condition could be termed as an unfair trading condition. Quite frankly, however, I doubt that one can claim that this type of condition is abusive.

So in a nutshell, while I appreciate the concern of the reader, I do not think that this practice of limiting the time window is illegal. However, the reader may wish to write to the Malta Telecommunications Authority (MCA) and ask it to look into this matter and rule accordingly.

Finally, it has to be said that although in Malta we have only two mobile telephone companies, we cannot say that there is no competition. Many tend to forget that in the not-so-distant 2000, with just one company providing mobile services, our country had just some 20,000 elite mobile users since few could afford it. Thankfully, opening up this sector to competition was one of the conditions for closing EU accession negotiations on telecommunications.

Six years down the line, mobile users in Malta have sky-rocketed whereas non-users have become the exception rather than the rule. Prices have come down, services have increased and quality has improved. Let there be no mistake - without EU membership we would not have come so far.

So competition has brought about better value for money for customers. Yet, competition is an ongoing challenge and if the local mobile companies are reading this, they could consider taking up the reader's complaint and extending the time window for topping up mobile phones.

Readers who would like to raise issues or ask a question to Dr Busuttil can send an e-mail to contact@simonbusuttil.com or through www.simonbusuttil.com