Roaming

O2 Ireland became the first operator to abolish roaming charges between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in February 2006 – introducing ‘All-Island’ pricing for mobile travellers between the north and south.

Roaming charges in Ireland were a particular concern to those who lived and worked near the border, and they often incurred roaming fees inadvertently - sometimes in their own homes. Our ‘All-Island’ pricing was in response to these concerns. 

In addition, international roaming has been abolished for O2 Ireland’s business customers between Ireland and the UK.

Proposed regulation in Europe

In March 2006, the EU Commissioner for Media and Information Society unveiled plans to force operators to apply the same price structure to calls made in foreign EU countries (‘roaming’ charges), as to calls made on domestic networks.

The move towards regulation comes after the European Commission last year launched a website naming companies and the roaming fees they charge (www.europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/roaming/why/index_en.htm).

The Commission claims that regulation would save consumers between 40 and 60 per cent on mobile calls made while travelling abroad and the Commissioner said in a speech to the European Regulators Group in February 2006 that a regulation would be proposed to the Parliament and Council before the summer break. 

The GSM Association, the mobile industry’s global trade association, believes that such laws are unnecessary, believing that the cost of roaming charges will continue to fall in the future, after moves by several European operators to introduce new packages that specifically give their customers better value on roaming services.

The Commissioner contends that roaming prices are not falling, but analysis by the GSM Association - based on data from a sample of key operators with customers in 12 European countries - shows that roaming tariffs fell by an average of 8 per cent across Europe last year.

We believe there are significant competitive pressures on roaming services in Europe and that retail prices will continue to drop throughout next year. We expect these to take the form of declining overall retail roaming prices and innovative pricing options. We also believe that regulation will distort this competitive process and may ultimately lead to higher prices and less choice for mobile customers.

A wide variety of pricing packages is offered by operators across Europe, and O2 has just launched a major new roaming initiative – My Europe – in partnership with Telefónica’s mobile business Telefónica Móviles. The initiative will offer a comprehensive set of low-cost roaming price plans for European customers, including a 35 pence per minute pan-European flat rate for UK customers, and the first-ever package which removes charges when receiving calls abroad.

Cheaper roaming is also one aim of those companies that have joined O2 in the Starmap Alliance of European operators.