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International roaming - update. Oftel LBUP - January 2002. Findings from the MMR. Lack of competitive pressure on roaming prices Contract prices not out of line with the rest of Europe, but are prices elsewhere competitive?
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International roaming - update Oftel LBUP - January 2002
Findings from the MMR • Lack of competitive pressure on roaming prices • Contract prices not out of line with the rest of Europe, but are prices elsewhere competitive? • More recent evidence suggests that UK pre-pay prices are some of the highest to be found in Europe • Scale of roaming charges (up to £1.50 per min for incoming calls) suggests that “operators are exploiting a lack of consumer awareness of roaming prices” • Solution?
Appropriate regulatory response • Retail price cap • not justified on outgoing services as a whole, hard to justify retail price cap on specific services • Wholesale price control • raises issues of access to mobile networks, (additional access obligations are not justified) plus, need other MS to take action • Address consumer awareness • appears to be a worthwhile line to pursue
Increasing consumer awareness • Oftel has benchmarks for consumer awareness and consumer behaviour • Raising consumer awareness via the press: • DGComp dawn raids, MMR press releases, Oftel initiative on consumer awareness of pre-pay prices, more planned.. • consumer awareness is increasing • need to see whether consumer behaviour changes and prices come down! • if not, need to think more about appropreate regulation • discussing with other NRAs in the context of the new EU Directives
What next? • More initiatives planned • Started work with the ODTR, joint study on consumer awareness, consumer behaviour and options for consumers to save money on roaming between UK and Ireland
What about medium/large businesses? • What is your experience negotiating roaming rates? • Could you share information with us? • do you have a breakdown of your spend on international roaming? • would you be interested in a study of what your employees would be prepared to do to cut your roaming bill?