Comments on: The roaming rip-off is over? Pull the other one

By: Peter Gross

Peter Gross — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:44:24 +0000

[NOTE: The following includes a plug to my own site].

Viviane Reding and the EU have made good strides into reducing mobile phone roaming charges, but the cost of using the mobile internet is still very confusing for most mobile phone users in the UK.

Users don’t understand the charging structures and there is still a significant variance in the costs applicable on the different tariffs.

For example, the cost for transferring 1MB of data per day for a month from a mobile phone ranges from £6/month to £210/month.

MobileMeg (http://www.mobilemeg.com) has been created to help reduce this confusion and provide clarity on the cost of the mobile internet.

The site includes a guide on mobile data services; a comparison of over 200 of the mobile phone price plans used in the UK, and a personal usage calculator to help estimate data charges.

By: Tom Chance

Tom Chance — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:33:23 +0000

July 1st. 09
If you have any doubt on what Offcom’s position are in protecting the UK mobile customer, it is worth looking at the call rates quoted in the story and comparing them to those here;- http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/boosters/pay-monthly/ . Apparently these rates were revised upward by T- Mobile two days ago.

Now try giving Offcom a ring to complain.

I did it twice. First time I got Charlotte – none of “our” business its European. When I tried again an hour later Dan immediately told me they were there to protect the UK mobile customer but when I gave my complaint number it all changed to the same old “none of our business” rubbish.

By: dark hared lord

dark hared lord — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:07:08 +0000

As Ed says, it’s business. You charge as much as you can until supply balances demand.
If you don’t like it why don’t you go and borrow a couple of billion pounds and buy t-mobile. see how far your new shareholders let you drop prices when you’re already operating at capacity.

By: Ed Clarke

Ed Clarke — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:56:43 +0000

I spoke to someone in the industry about mobile data charges. He said:

Capacity is fixed (in the short term). Voice occupies 40% of capacity and takes priority; it is also very profitable. How do we fill the remaining 60%? With data. What price do we need to set so that all of that is used to generate maximum profits? Very high. In economic terms, the price is nothing to do with the cost.

In the long term, it may be more profitable to increase supply, but that takes time and investment.

By: Mr Benn

Mr Benn — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:47:55 +0000

As long as people give them business the mobile operators will rip you off. The costs to provide bare no resemblence to those they charge the customer. Disgraceful but typical of the industry, sadly.