Issue: 29/08

Roam Fair Update

July 30, 2008

Roam Fair Update

Advice for mobile phone users going to the Olympics : Enjoy Beijing! DON’T phone home!

The focus on International Roaming rates around the world is getting
traction. ATUG continues with member forums in all States to discuss ways to reduce these rates and the inconvenience of the current “work arounds”. This material will be part of our submission to the House of Representatives Inquiry which closes on 15 August 2008. Click Here

In the EU a number of initiatives are already underway based on the “Single Market” concept. Australia has similar links via the Closer Economic Relationship with New Zealand, our support for the Asia Pacific Economic Community, a number of bi-lateral Free Trade Agreements eg, US, Singapore, Thailand. The foundation work on market analysis and costs that has been done in the EU is relevant to local considerations on how to get a fair outcome for end users.

EU - Texting without borders
Click Here

(15/07/2008) The 2.5 billion text messages sent every year by roaming customers in the EU cost over 10 times more than domestic short messages (SMS), show figures released today by the European Commission. The average cost of a roaming text message in the EU between October 2007 and March 2008 was €0.29 according to the European Regulators’ Group (ERG), but can be as high as €0.80 for travellers from Belgium. Calls on the industry for self-regulation and voluntary reductions of roaming prices for text messages have not been answered. The Commission will therefore start working on measures to ensure that consumers benefit from a truly single market for mobile text services. The Commission will also seek to put an end to "bill shocks" that can hit roaming customers using a mobile connection to surf the Internet. New measures could be proposed by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council in early autumn. See also: FAQs - EU Roaming Regulation: Text Messages & Data Services

EU - Data roaming
Click Here

(27/06/2008) Use of mobile data services within individual Member States is growing much faster than cross border data roaming services, says a Connect2Roam study carried out for the European Commission. This is because mobile operators are introducing aggressive retail rates to compete with existing broadband offers. However, use of data roaming services remains limited as consumers are discouraged by extremely high charges when compared to national prices, as well as a lack of transparency related to the pricing by volume of data (Megabytes) used. High-volume users are susceptible to bill shocks if, for example, they surf the internet for long periods when using their datacard connection on a laptop computer.

EU - Voice Roaming – One Year on
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(30/06/2008) Today is the anniversary of the EU Roaming Regulation, which entered into force on 30 June 2007. Since then, the introduction of the Eurotariff has led to savings of up to 60% for consumers using their mobile phone to make and receive calls abroad within the EU (roaming). They will benefit from further reductions by 30 August as prices will be capped at €0.46 for making calls and €0.22 for receiving calls for the coming year. The European Commission is now assessing whether there have been satisfactory developments in the prices of data roaming (including SMS and MMS) before deciding on whether the Regulation needs to be extended to also cover these services. A deadline set by Commissioner Reding in February to the mobile industry for voluntary reductions of roaming prices for text messages and mobile data services expires today, close of business.

EU Roaming Regulation has the following elements:
- Wholesale rates: The prices that operators charge each other were capped at a maximum €0.30 per minute. On 30 August 2008, these caps will be reduced to €0.28 followed by a further decrease next year to €0.26.
- Retail rates: Roaming prices for consumers were capped at a maximum charge of €0.49 for making calls and €0.24 for receiving calls. Roaming prices will be reduced to €0.46 for making calls and to €0.22 for receiving calls. Further reductions are envisaged next year (2009) which will bring prices down to €0.43 and €0.19 respectively.
- Transparency: The EU Roaming Regulation also introduced the requirement for operators to inform customers of prices free of charge by SMS when they enter a different Member State.

EU ERG Update - Voice, text and data roaming in the EU - Fair and predictable prices for all, 15 July 2008
Presentation by Dániel Pataki (ERG Chair) "Voice, text and data roaming in the EU"
The presentation includes data on Voice Roaming rates, SMS prices and costs, Data roaming rates, transparency and customer empowerment measures. The summary of ERG recommendations is
- Voice Roaming
• Continue existing voice regulation
• Adjust wholesale and retail caps to reflect cost reductions

- SMS Roaming
• Regulate both at retail and wholesale level
• Introduce price cap (between €0.11 and €0.15 per SMS would
be appropriate – current is average of 29 euro cents)

- Data Roaming
• Keep need for regulation under review
• Introduce obligatory transparency measures

INTUG presentation at UK Westminster eForum on Mobile Termination Rates and roaming charges. Click Here

Executive Vice President Nick White reports a case study of one unsuspecting customer who had received a bill for £30,000 for data roaming, which was reduced to £329 after his lawyer used the Consumer Credit Act (UK) in his defence.

Lord Lucas (Chair of the Forum) gave the following message to mobile operators.

"I think sometimes some of the comments made by the industry just seem to me to be naive. You are a regulated industry, you operate under a franchise from the government, regulation is always going to be there, sitting, waiting for you unless you behave perfectly, which is very hard to do. As I said, charging customers £30,000 but, just as importantly, not providing business with the services that they need ( NW- a reference to INTUG’s presentation) is always going to bring regulation down on your head. The only way of avoiding it is to be better and to be there ahead of the regulation, and that you haven't managed. So I think you just have to live with what is coming your way, and I don't think it will change with the Conservative Government ( NW- a prediction of the result of the next UK election!). I think the view is that this is an industry that needs some help to get it where we want to get it. To prove us wrong is an opportunity which should have been taken over the last two or three years and hasn't been…."

It is worth noting that the EU only introduced the roaming reguation after watching the market and waiting for operators to reduce prices. As Ms Reding the EU Commissioner said before introducing the voice roaming regulation:

We continue to watch the market closely and are examining recent developments such as the moves by some operators to reduce charges. I of course welcome these first moves, but I believe the market generally has not gone far enough. It is clear that after many years of no response to calls from consumer and regulators, the market has now started moving only under the threat of regulation – for me, this is a strong argument for continuing in our efforts.

Australian Market Developments

It is in this context that ATUG notes moves by Vodafone in Australia to reduce some roaming charges for some customers (providing they opt-in to the price reductions) with its Vodafone Traveller prices:

Click Here

Rates are per minute (AUD $)	Zone 1 Close to home	Zone 2 Europe	Zone 3 Asia & Nth America	Zone 4 Rest of the world
Make a call & pick up voicemail	$1 + standard call rate	$1.50 + standard call rate	$2 + standard call rate	$4 + standard call rate
Receive a call	$1	$1	$1	$1
Customer care 24/7	Free for business customers
Send a TXT (160 characters)	75c	75c

Charged in 30 sec increments with a 60 sec minimum duration.

These prices compare with the Vodafone World prices (per minute)
Click Here

Zone	To call country you're in	To call country you're in at the preferential rate	Calls made to Australia	Calls made to Australia at the preferential rate	To receive calls	To call other countries besides Australia	To send a TXT
1	$0.60	$0.54	$1.20	$1.08	$0.43	$1.34	75c
2	$1.25	$1.13	$2.30	$2.07	$0.89	$2.57	75c
3	$1.65	$1.49	$3.35	$3.02	$1.17	$3.75	75c
4	$1.85	$1.67	$5.60	$5.04	$1.31	$6.27	75c
5	$2.00	$1.80	$6.45	$5.81	$1.42	$7.22	75c

Note: roaming costs are not included in On Account or Contract Caps and Plans and will incur an additional charge on top of your included value. These rates apply to standard calls & TXT and toll free numbers outside Australia. Charged in 30-second increments (with a 60-second minimum duration). Examples of Zone 1- Thailand, Zone 2 - China, Zone 3 - New Zealand, Zone 4 - Italy, Zone 5 - Indonesia.

Roaming while at the Olympics – DON’T call home!
ATUG has researched the price of calling home for Olympic travellers:

Vodafone Traveller - $1 per minute (50% Olympic discount) plus call charge per minute

If you “opt-in” to Vodafone Traveller (with the special Olympic discount of 50% reduction) the price of a call is $1 per minute plus the standard call charge per minute, charged in 30 second blocks. Without the discount the call will be $2 per minute plus the standard call charge per minute.

Vodafone World - $2.30 per minute

It you stay with Vodafone World the price is $2.30 per minute charged in 30 second blocks.

Telstra - $3.93 per minute
Click Here

Calls are charged in per minute blocks.

Service Charges for China
GSM Operator	National Call	Call to Australia	SMS	Video National Call	Video Call to Australia	Telstra charge to receive	Call Setup Fee	Incoming Call Airtime	Video Call Airtime
China Mobile	$ 0.95	$ 3.93	$ 0.40	-	-	$ 1.11	$0.40	$ 0.95	-
China Unicom	$ 0.95	$ 3.93	$ 0.46	-	-	$ 1.11	$0.40	$ 0.95	-

Three - $2.00 per minute plus 25 cents flagfall (China is Zone 3)
Click Here

		Zone 1	Zone 2	Zone 3	Zone 4	Zone 5	Maritime/Airline Zone	3LH Zone
Voice calls Per 30 secs. (flagfall of $0.25 applies to calls made from your mobile)	National Calls	$0.30	$0.50	$0.65	$0.75	$1.00	$2.50	$0.35
	Calls to Aus	$0.70	$1.25	$1.50	$1.75	$1.90		$0.35
	Calls to other countries	$1.00	$1.50	$2.00	$2.00	$2.20		Country dependent – As per the international rate from Aus to the country you are calling
	To receive calls	$0.50	$0.50	$0.50	$1.00	$1.00	$2.00	FREE
Video calls (where available) Per 30 secs. (flagfall of $0.25 applies to calls made from your mobile)	National Calls	$0.60	$1.00	$1.30	$1.50	$2.00	N/A	$0.35
	Calls to Aus	$1.40	$2.50	$3.00	$3.50	$3.80		$0.35
	Calls to other countries	$2.00	$3.00	$4.00	$4.00	$4.40		$0.85
	To receive calls	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00	$2.00	$2.00		FREE
Other services	SMS - MO	$0.40	$0.40	$0.60	$0.60	$0.80	$1.50	Per rate plan
	Data (per MB) where available	$10.00	$15.00	$20.00	$20.00	$20.00	$30.00	$0.50

The comparison with the 3 Like Home column is interesting as it shows the cost difference between roaming on 3”s own network compared to the prices charged on partner networks.

Optus - $6.30 per minute (China is Zone 5)
Click Here

Per minute rates	Zone 1	Zone 2	Zone 3	Zone 4	Zone 5
Voice calls to numbers within the same country* (National Call)	$0.60	$1.20	$1.50	$1.70	$1.90
Voice calls to numbers outside the country you are in* (International Call)	$1.34	$2.25	$3.30	$5.50	$6.30
To receive voice calls whilst roaming*	$0.43	$0.89	$1.17	$1.31	$1.42
Video calls to numbers within the same country* (National Call)	$1.25	$2.00	$2.50	$3.00	$3.50
Video calls to numbers outside the country you are in* (International Call)	$2.75	$3.30	$4.75	$5.95	$6.75
To receive video calls whilst roaming*	$1.00	$1.25	$1.50	$1.75	$2.00
To send an SMS to an Australian number whilst roaming#	$0.50 roaming fee + standard SMS rate
To send an SMS to a non-Australian number whilst roaming#	$0.50 roaming fee + standard International SMS rate
To receive an SMS whilst roaming	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
To send an MMS to an Australian number whilst roaming#	$0.50 roaming fee + standard MMS rate + $0.02 per KB
To send an MMS to a non-Australian number whilst roaming#	$0.50 roaming fee + standard International MMS rate + $0.02 per KB
To receive an MMS whilst roaming	$0.02 per KB	$0.02 per KB	$0.02 per KB	$0.02 per KB	$0.02 per KB
GPRS / 3G Data per KB^	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02
To call Optus Customer Care whilst roaming +61 2 9342 5678 or +61 2 8082 5678	$0.50 per call

ATUG member forums are identifying international roaming markets (voice, SMS and data) as markets where prices do not reflect underlying costs, markets where even large corporate and government organisations do not have the power to negotiate, markets where information is not easily accessible and markets where inconvenient “work-arounds” are the only way to get access to affordable communications services.

In other words, markets which need regulatory intervention to secure reasonable outcomes, ongoing (not just Olympic specials) for end users.

ATUG’s advice to members – enjoy Beijing, DON’T phone home!