Mobile rates get cheaper in Malta and abroad
While the European Commission continues to target mobile operators to keep down the cost of using your mobile phone while abroad across Europe, a development in the Maltese market will make it cheaper to call a fixed-line number from your mobile...
While the European Commission continues to target mobile operators to keep down the cost of using your mobile phone while abroad across Europe, a development in the Maltese market will make it cheaper to call a fixed-line number from your mobile handset.
The Malta Communications Authority (MCA) has published a report on consultation and statement of decision on its review of fixed-line origination and termination rates. This decision confirms a proposed nine per cent reduction in the rates, following a consultation period which ended at the beginning of last May.
"A reduction in fixed-line origination and termination rates implies lower termination costs for mobile operators to terminate calls on fixed-lines. For this reason, they should contribute to lower retail rates for calls to fixed-lines," explained a spokesman for the MCA.
Service providers using Go's network to originate and terminate fixed calls, such as carrier select operators, will also face lower wholesale charges. Furthermore it gives more flexibility to Go to offer more competitive rates and packages on the fixed lines calls.
Vodafone Malta immediately took stock of the decision and has launched significantly lower rates to all fixed-lines for both pre-paid and post-paid customers. A phone call from a pre-paid Vodafone to a fixed-line now costs the same as if the call is being made from another fixed line.
Interconnection rates between mobile and fixed-line operators are not being targeted only in Malta. The European Commission has embarked on the second phase of its crusade against high roaming tariffs in EU countries. After successfully bringing down the rates for making and receiving calls while abroad last year with the so-called Eurotariff, the Commission now wants to bring down the rates to send an SMS or receive/send data from a mobile handset, including access to internet.
Use of mobile data services within individual EU member states is growing much faster than cross border data roaming services, says a Connect2Roam study carried out for the European Commission. This is because mobile operators are introducing aggressive retail rates to compete with existing broadband offers.
However, use of data roaming services remains limited as consumers are discouraged by extremely high charges when compared to national prices, as well as a lack of transparency related to the pricing by volume of data (megabytes) used. High-volume users are susceptible to bill shocks if, for example, they surf the internet for long periods when using their datacard connection on a laptop computer, the Commission said.
Earlier this year Viviane Reding, the EU's telecoms commissioner, called on mobile operators to voluntarily but clearly bring down mobile roaming charges for text messages and other data by July 1.
"Bill-shock" is one of the major problems for data services. Internet access through a laptop computer is easy but can generate very high volumes and thus immense bills. Technological progress has also enabled operators to offer high-speed services comparable to fixed broadband services. Wholesale roaming prices (the price that one operator charges another for enabling its customer's data services while abroad) have decreased but wholesale prices for such data roaming services have not yet been adjusted to reflect such progress and therefore remain very high when compared to costs.
Many operators are moving towards monthly or daily bundled offers for data roaming (meaning that customers can buy a fixed amount of service in advance at a discounted rate) offering cheaper rates of € 0.24 per megabyte on average. These rates are substantially than unbundled offers, where standard prices can typically range from €5 to €10 per megabyte. One megabyte allows approximately 200 e-mails without attachments or less than an hour of browsing time, but only one minute of MP3 compressed music.
The Commission said lack of transparency is a serious problem: Consumers are often neither aware of prices for data roaming nor of their actual data use. In many cases they don't know what one megabyte represents and they may be unpleasantly surprised when receiving their bill. Consumers therefore remain extremely cautious which is one of the main reasons for the very low take-up of data roaming services observed in the EU so far, the Commission lamented.
Further reductions to roaming charges for making and receiving calls will be applied by August 30 as prices will be capped at €0.46 for making calls and €0.22 for receiving calls for the coming year.
The Malta Communications Authority (MCA) has published a report on consultation and statement of decision on its review of fixed-line origination and termination rates. This decision confirms a proposed nine per cent reduction in the rates, following a consultation period which ended at the beginning of last May.
"A reduction in fixed-line origination and termination rates implies lower termination costs for mobile operators to terminate calls on fixed-lines. For this reason, they should contribute to lower retail rates for calls to fixed-lines," explained a spokesman for the MCA.
Service providers using Go's network to originate and terminate fixed calls, such as carrier select operators, will also face lower wholesale charges. Furthermore it gives more flexibility to Go to offer more competitive rates and packages on the fixed lines calls.
Vodafone Malta immediately took stock of the decision and has launched significantly lower rates to all fixed-lines for both pre-paid and post-paid customers. A phone call from a pre-paid Vodafone to a fixed-line now costs the same as if the call is being made from another fixed line.
Interconnection rates between mobile and fixed-line operators are not being targeted only in Malta. The European Commission has embarked on the second phase of its crusade against high roaming tariffs in EU countries. After successfully bringing down the rates for making and receiving calls while abroad last year with the so-called Eurotariff, the Commission now wants to bring down the rates to send an SMS or receive/send data from a mobile handset, including access to internet.
Use of mobile data services within individual EU member states is growing much faster than cross border data roaming services, says a Connect2Roam study carried out for the European Commission. This is because mobile operators are introducing aggressive retail rates to compete with existing broadband offers.
However, use of data roaming services remains limited as consumers are discouraged by extremely high charges when compared to national prices, as well as a lack of transparency related to the pricing by volume of data (megabytes) used. High-volume users are susceptible to bill shocks if, for example, they surf the internet for long periods when using their datacard connection on a laptop computer, the Commission said.
Earlier this year Viviane Reding, the EU's telecoms commissioner, called on mobile operators to voluntarily but clearly bring down mobile roaming charges for text messages and other data by July 1.
"Bill-shock" is one of the major problems for data services. Internet access through a laptop computer is easy but can generate very high volumes and thus immense bills. Technological progress has also enabled operators to offer high-speed services comparable to fixed broadband services. Wholesale roaming prices (the price that one operator charges another for enabling its customer's data services while abroad) have decreased but wholesale prices for such data roaming services have not yet been adjusted to reflect such progress and therefore remain very high when compared to costs.
Many operators are moving towards monthly or daily bundled offers for data roaming (meaning that customers can buy a fixed amount of service in advance at a discounted rate) offering cheaper rates of € 0.24 per megabyte on average. These rates are substantially than unbundled offers, where standard prices can typically range from €5 to €10 per megabyte. One megabyte allows approximately 200 e-mails without attachments or less than an hour of browsing time, but only one minute of MP3 compressed music.
The Commission said lack of transparency is a serious problem: Consumers are often neither aware of prices for data roaming nor of their actual data use. In many cases they don't know what one megabyte represents and they may be unpleasantly surprised when receiving their bill. Consumers therefore remain extremely cautious which is one of the main reasons for the very low take-up of data roaming services observed in the EU so far, the Commission lamented.
Further reductions to roaming charges for making and receiving calls will be applied by August 30 as prices will be capped at €0.46 for making calls and €0.22 for receiving calls for the coming year.