Public Servant Lifestyle

UK mobile phone users are paying twice as much as other European consumers to use their pre-pay mobile while abroad.

Research from government watchdog Oftel - The Office of Telecommunications - shows that UK prices for pre-pay international roaming - the service that allows you to use a foreign mobile network, when travelling abroad - are much higher than for customers in France, Germany, Sweden and Italy.

As well as paying higher prices for outgoing calls, UK consumers can pay up to £1.50, per minute, to receive incoming calls, whilst travelling in Europe. Many consumers may be getting caught out, because they are not aware of the high prices. Less than a quarter of consumers, when they bought their phone, had any knowledge of the price of using a mobile phone abroad.

Oftel has set out measures to improve consumer awareness, and to help customers save money, when using their mobile on holiday, or when abroad on business.

The advice includes:

If you travel often, consider swapping your SIM card, when abroad, and use the SIM card of an alternative provider - either a foreign network, or a dedicated provider of international mobile phone services - you can buy these at mobile phone shops in the UK and abroad

Change to a different tariff - if you travel frequently, the cost of monthly line rental may be offset by cheaper rates, for international roaming

Consider using use text messages, instead of voice calls, as this can be cheaper, but do check the charges first

Check how much your phone operator will charge you, before using your mobile phone abroad

Oftel has also announced an agreement to work with the Irish regulator (ODTR) to jointly address the problems of consumer awareness, amongst travellers to and from the UK and Ireland, and help in building a better understanding of the costs involved, for international roaming.

"There appears to be no clear reason why UK pre-pay consumers pay twice as much as their European counterparts, to use their mobile phone abroad," said Chris Kenny, Oftel's director of regulatory policy.

"The extremely high prices for pre-pay international roaming suggest that the UK operators are able to exploit a lack of consumer awareness. Better consumer information is vital if prices for pre-pay international roaming in the UK are to come down.

"Well-informed consumers, that shop around, will put pressure on the mobile operators, and will lead to lower prices in the future.

"Oftel advice suggests ways that consumers can make savings, by taking simple measures such as shopping around for cheaper tariffs, or swapping their SIM cards, to use foreign mobile operators, when abroad.

"Oftel has already begun discussions with mobile providers, retailers and consumer groups, to address consumer awareness issues, and I expect to see the industry taking action to improve consumer information, and reduce prices over the coming months.

"Oftel will also continue to work with the European Commission, and other European regulators, on the scope for Europe-wide regulatory action on roaming charges."

The Oftel study shows that overall UK prices for mobile services are broadly in line with the rest of Europe.

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