Cheaper roaming rates from today
Vodafone and Go Mobile have introduced cheaper roaming rates as from today in line with the EU Roaming Regulation.
The new rates are valid for calls originating and terminating in an EU state.
A spokesman for Vodafone told timesofmalta.com that Vodafone’s outgoing call rate has been reduced from €0.58 to €0.53 a minute, including VAT, and incoming calls from €0.28 to €0.25 a minute, including VAT.
These rates, the spokesman said, were below the requirements of the EU Regulation and were applicable to all Vodafone pre-paid and post-paid customers.
A spokesman for Go said Pay Monthly clients using their mobile phone to make calls within the EU would be charged €0.54 per minute,and Pay As You Go subscribers €0.53 per minute.
Incoming calls while roaming on any EU network will be charged at €0.26 per minute in the case of Pay Monthly subscribers and €0.25 per minute in the case of Pay As You GO subscribers. All rates are inclusive of VAT.
In terms of to the EU's Roaming Regulation, the old price cap of €0.49 per minute (excluding VAT) for making a call while abroad has been reduced to €0.46 (excluding VAT).
The maximum price that European mobile phone operators are able to charge their customers for receiving a call while roaming has also dropped from €0.24 to €0.22 per minute.
The EU's Roaming Regulation, which came into force last summer and which is due to expire in 2010, foresees a third and final lowering of the price caps - to €0.43 and €0.19 respectively - on August 30, 2009.
The European Commission introduced price caps after studies found that European mobile phone operators were applying excessive roaming charges to their customers - on average €1.15 per minute.
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John Borg
Sep 1st 2008, 15:07
Oh how nice of our mobile telecoms providers - they react only when forced to do so by EU legislation - not market forces..Why?
And we continue paying through the nose! It is much cheaper calling Australia using 1021 prefix on Go than calling mobile to mobile in little Malta. Our local mobile tariffs are probably the most expensive in the EU and this is how it has been ever since the beginning. Calls have been highly expensive and only because the 2 providers have no worries about competition... yet.
Russell Lethbridge
Sep 1st 2008, 10:57
Having come from England I am surprised at how expensive mobile telephony is here in Malta. Especially considering the small size of the island, there would be a considerably lower upfront cost in installing the infrastructure. The two operators have suspiciously similar rates which should alert the interest of the local regulator (if there is one).
We should also note that these cheaper rates have only come about because of the actions of the EU regulator, contrary to the impression given by the nice smiling promotional photo above.
If they really wanted to crack down on this abuse then the regulator should demand that the price of the incoming or outgoing call is displayed on the handset prior to accepting or making the call. There are few areas where a customer has to choose to accept a service without knowing in advance how much that service will cost.
Anton
Sep 1st 2008, 10:57
That is what happens when you regulate prices, all competitors have the same, in Malta and in the rest of the EU.
M Buttigieg
Sep 1st 2008, 10:24
While Malta is boasting about new cheaper tariffs...The EU is declaring that the cheap rates are simply not enough!
Randolph Bugeja
Aug 30th 2008, 20:04
@ V Catania: As has been already mentioned, you should be thanking Commissioner Viviane Reding for the cheaper rates and not Joseph Muscat.
If Joseph Muscat got his way, Malta would have not joined the EU and the rates would NOT be getting cheaper.
Edward Cassar
Aug 30th 2008, 17:36
@ Mr Catania, to be precise, the European Commissioner for Media and IT Viviene Reding that started the exercise to get these tariffs lowered. Joseph Muscat just happened to be chairing a European Parliament committee that said 'yes' and did not put any obstacles to Reding's push. Reding is also pushing for lower roaming data and SMS rates, without Muscat's help hand this time as he occupied leading a political party.
@ Zammit, both Go and Vodafone are bound by EU Regulations. The lowered the tariffs withing the limits imposed by the EU. They did not make them free of course but kept the highest rates possible in the circumstances.
charles vella
Aug 30th 2008, 17:14
This is ridiculous!! When I go abroad I always buy a national line... it works out cheaper that way... I get the line for free and 20€ credit. And that lasts me for around 2 weeks. So why the need to make mobile operators richer by roaming and squeezing our money from our phones when we receive phone calls?
V. Catania
Aug 30th 2008, 15:22
A big thank you to Joseph Muscat who was behind this revolution in mobile telphony roaming tarriffs.
Joe Abela
Aug 30th 2008, 15:02
Duopoly......
Edward Zammit
Aug 30th 2008, 14:26
I must wonder how two "competing" companies who are supposed to "compete" with each other, have "coincidently" lowered their tariffs together, and the new prices "quite by chance" are almost identical. It smells quite fishy to put it bluntly, but hey this is Malta so why bother compete when we can get rich together to the detriment of the small people.
R. Cassar
Aug 30th 2008, 13:21
Wow that makes a lot of difference I guess. Prices have *really* gone down!
Interesting how some prices quoted include VAT while others exclude VAT. Also interesting to note is how the two "competitors" have the same tariffs...
M Buttigieg
Aug 30th 2008, 12:28
EU declares war on per-minute phone tariffs (29 August 2008)...guess Vodafone and Go have to do more!!!
"The European Regulators Group (ERG), the body which brings together telecoms authorities from the 27 EU member states, said bills are also on average 19% higher for calls received from abroad. The gap is even wider in countries such as Malta, Austria and Poland, the figures showed."
http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/eu-declares-war-minute-phone-tariffs/article-174956