Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2012
304 Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the actions he has taken or future plans he has to address the high cost of cross-Border mobile telephone roaming charges particularly for those resident in Border areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33310/12]
View answerThe provision of mobile telephony services within the EU is a fully liberalised market and regulation of that market is limited to the provisions permitted by EU harmonisation Directives. The maximum charges which can be imposed for roaming services within the EU is also regulated by EU harmonisation measures, in the form of EU Regulations. The most recent such Regulation, Regulation (EU) No. 531/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2012 on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union, which commenced on the 1st July last, imposes decreasing annual maximum wholesale and retail charges as set out in the following table:
|
Retail (excl VAT) |
Wholesale (excl VAT) |
|
|
Making a phone call/minute |
€0.29 cent from July 2012, |
€0.14 from July 2012 |
|
€0.24 from July 2013 and |
€0.10 from July 2013 |
|
|
€0.19 cent from July 2014 |
€0.05 from July 2014 |
|
|
Receiving a phone call/minute |
€0.08 from July 2012, |
— |
|
€0.07 from July 2013 and |
— |
|
|
€0.05 from July 2014 |
— |
|
|
Sending a text message |
€0.09 from July 2012, |
€0.03 from July 2012 |
|
€0.08 from July 2013 and |
€0.02 from July 2013 |
|
|
€0.06 from July 2014 |
€0.02 from July 2014 |
|
|
Data usage/Mbyte |
€0.70 from July 2012, |
€0.25 from July 2012, |
|
€0.45 from July 2013 and |
€0.15 from July 2013 |
|
|
€0.20 from July 2014. |
€0.05 from July 2014 |
The prices permitted by the EU Regulation are maximum prices. Service providers are permitted and encouraged to charge lower rates. At least one operator in Ireland advertises that it imposes no additional charges for roaming within the EU. Most other mobile operators advertise that they impose no additional roaming charges or reduced charges for roaming in Northern Ireland, providing customers opt to take service from a named service provider in Northern Ireland usually operating with the same brand name e.g. 3, O2 or Vodafone and T mobile in the case of e-mobile. The detailed terms and conditions may vary depending on the account type and package chosen. Customers should consult with their service provider to identify the charging options available and to ensure they can manually select the most appropriate service provider when roaming in Northern Ireland or disable the automatic switching function to avoid inadvertent roaming within the State in border areas.
I will continue to work with my EU colleagues and at a Government policy level, to reduce the cost of cross-border mobile phone charges.
