EU may okay mobile charges for accepting calls
The European Union's telecoms chief is ready to accept mobile telephone users having to pay charges for accepting calls, she told the Financial Times in an interview. Asked if she was prepared to back the system, already used in the US, EU Telecoms...
The European Union's telecoms chief is ready to accept mobile telephone users having to pay charges for accepting calls, she told the Financial Times in an interview.
Asked if she was prepared to back the system, already used in the US, EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said: "Why not? The whole market is developing so we should not stay on the rules that have been in place 10 years."
Charges for accepting calls could be part of a new business model for mobile phone operators to be developed as the European Commission, the EU's executive, is pressing the companies to lower the cost of texting and downloading data abroad.
The European Regulators Group, made up of the EU's 27 national telecoms watchdogs, has said intervention is needed to cap roamed SMS prices but that data roaming, still in its infancy, requires more careful study.
The Commission has already capped roaming charges for mobile phone users abroad.
Asked to comment, a spokesman for Vodafone Malta Limited said the company recently launched its new tariff plans offering a combination of free talk-time, SMS and MMS.
She remarked that the Vodafone knock out plans include 30 minutes of free video calls per month and MMSs are charged at €0.10 each. "With these tariffs, customers can also choose from free unlimited weekend calls to Vodafone numbers or free unlimited weekend SMS and MMS to Vodafone numbers."
The spokesman added that through another service - the Vodafone Passport - customers are charged €0.70 per 10 minutes of calls received while roaming on EU Vodafone Passport Networks (e.g. Vodafone Italy).
The rate for calls received while roaming on non-EU Passport Networks is €1.16 per 10 minutes of calls.
Vodafone Malta is always committed to ensuring transparency on voice roaming pricing and to giving customers the freedom to communicate more often and for longer during their business or leisure trips, she said.
"With Vodafone's data roaming tariff which is available on selected networks worldwide, postpaid customers are charged €3.49 per MB for internet and WAP usage, €8.50 for Vodafone business e-mail, and €0.23 per 150KB for both outgoing and incoming MMS. In addition, data usage while roaming on EU networks not included in the Data Roaming Tariff footprint will be charged at €8.50 per MB for internet, WAP and Vodafone business e-mail sessions. MMS usage (incoming and outgoing) will be charged at €0.23 per 150KB."
Vodafone Malta also reduced its data roaming tariffs for all prepaid subscribers to €8.50 per MB when roaming within EU destinations and €10 per MB for roaming outside EU.
A spokesman for Go said "our only comment is that Go is monitoring the situation and will comment at the appropriate time".
Asked if she was prepared to back the system, already used in the US, EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said: "Why not? The whole market is developing so we should not stay on the rules that have been in place 10 years."
Charges for accepting calls could be part of a new business model for mobile phone operators to be developed as the European Commission, the EU's executive, is pressing the companies to lower the cost of texting and downloading data abroad.
The European Regulators Group, made up of the EU's 27 national telecoms watchdogs, has said intervention is needed to cap roamed SMS prices but that data roaming, still in its infancy, requires more careful study.
The Commission has already capped roaming charges for mobile phone users abroad.
Asked to comment, a spokesman for Vodafone Malta Limited said the company recently launched its new tariff plans offering a combination of free talk-time, SMS and MMS.
She remarked that the Vodafone knock out plans include 30 minutes of free video calls per month and MMSs are charged at €0.10 each. "With these tariffs, customers can also choose from free unlimited weekend calls to Vodafone numbers or free unlimited weekend SMS and MMS to Vodafone numbers."
The spokesman added that through another service - the Vodafone Passport - customers are charged €0.70 per 10 minutes of calls received while roaming on EU Vodafone Passport Networks (e.g. Vodafone Italy).
The rate for calls received while roaming on non-EU Passport Networks is €1.16 per 10 minutes of calls.
Vodafone Malta is always committed to ensuring transparency on voice roaming pricing and to giving customers the freedom to communicate more often and for longer during their business or leisure trips, she said.
"With Vodafone's data roaming tariff which is available on selected networks worldwide, postpaid customers are charged €3.49 per MB for internet and WAP usage, €8.50 for Vodafone business e-mail, and €0.23 per 150KB for both outgoing and incoming MMS. In addition, data usage while roaming on EU networks not included in the Data Roaming Tariff footprint will be charged at €8.50 per MB for internet, WAP and Vodafone business e-mail sessions. MMS usage (incoming and outgoing) will be charged at €0.23 per 150KB."
Vodafone Malta also reduced its data roaming tariffs for all prepaid subscribers to €8.50 per MB when roaming within EU destinations and €10 per MB for roaming outside EU.
A spokesman for Go said "our only comment is that Go is monitoring the situation and will comment at the appropriate time".