Mobile Operators - Don't Spoil our Holidays: Lower SMS Prices…

Consumers are paying far too much to send messages, files, photos or surf on the internet with their laptops or mobile phones when they use mobile phone networks abroad.

Concerning SMS, ZPS, our Slovenian member organisation found that prices for sending an SMS to Slovenia from some EU countries vary enormously: from 7 eurocents in Cyprus to 41 eurocents in Spain.
 
The Commission website just confirmed these disparities: prices vary widely between countries: from 6 eurocents in Estonia to 80 eurocents in Belgium. Furthermore, the price of an SMS seems not to depend on the network you choose when you are abroad, but on your operator. It is thus crucial that consumers are well informed about the cost of SMS. 
 
We therefore welcome that Commissioner Reding plans to present a legislative proposal on this issue, as it is obvious the telephone operators have no intention of taking action and reducing the prices of SMS on their own initiative.
 
We would, however, be delighted to be proved wrong: with the holidays, the time of year when consumers use their mobile phones abroad the most, operators still have  the chance to act by seriously reducing, from now on, their prices and by being more transparent on their tariffs!
 
Moreover, we also want to highlight the scale of the problem caused by data roaming. Here are a few examples:
 
o  During her holiday in Spain, a Belgian citizen was charged EUR 18,888.86 for surfing the internet. She was unaware she was surfing at a rate of EUR 9,68/MB!
 
o  A Slovenian tourist in Italy was charged EUR 250 for 1 hour for going online and sending emails. Unfortunately, his computer downloaded software updates automatically when sending the emails.
 
o  A Belgian citizen had to pay EUR 834.34 for 3 hours of internet surfing in Germany. He did not understand he was billed per Mega byte and not per minute. Furthermore, he was not informed that the Belgian national EUR 3/MB tariff does not apply when roaming.
 
Monique Goyens, BEUC Director stated: "As the Commission has clearly shown its determination on this issue, we would have thought that the operators would have taken the bull by the horns, reduced SMS prices and made themselves popular with consumers; they didn't and we are now looking forward to legislation."

The European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC) was created in 1962 by the consumer organisations of Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. After working together for a number of years, these organisations decided to create a European association, based in Brussels, right at the heart of Community policy. BEUC was a pioneer, one of the first lobbying organisations to set up base in the European capital in a bid to influence the decision-making process.