British consumers will no doubt welcome news of a price war over European mobile roaming charges throughout the UK. Anticipated moves to reduce the cost of ‘roaming’ on different networks whilst abroad by four of the major players in the UK mobile market are seen as a ‘pre-emptive strike against proposed European regulation’, according to sector analysts.

Legislation designed to enforce a drop in roaming prices is expected to emerge by the middle of next year. The news of the potential change in the law followed the publication of a website by the European Commission (EC) disclosing details of roaming charges throughout Europe. British tourists in Italy, for example, are charged 50 per cent more for mobile calls than French tourists according to published figures.

The hope was that increased visibility would encourage more competitive pricing, However, it now seems as if the EC feels that legislative moves must be implemented.
The resulting battle to offer reduced pricing for calls made and received outside the UK has seen Vodafone announce a proposed drop in roaming charges by 40 per cent by April next year. Orange has also announced a 28 per cent cut in charges. T-mobile is expected to follow suit – likewise for O2, the UK’s largest operator.

The proposed regulations have come under heavy criticism from the industry, which has labelled the website ‘misleading’ through its sole use of standard rates to generate average call costs. A spokesman from Vodafone reportedly said that ‘regulation should be the last resort, not what you start with’, claiming that in an already difficult market, ‘competition is delivering better value at present’.