For example, a four-minute call within the O2 network from Portugal to the UK costs 3.45 euros, while the same service on the Vodafone network is valued at 4.4 euros, and to connect to a competing network under the same scheme, you would have to pay 5.81 euros.
But from now on, our compatriots can count on affordable roaming in European countries. The European Commission intends to oblige mobile operators in EU countries to reduce international roaming tariffs so that domestic and international mobile calls cost the same.
Although 81% of Europeans use mobile phones and the mobile communications market is actively developing, the laws of market competition practically do not apply in roaming. As industry analysts confirm, many people accustomed to quite moderate prices for domestic calls are completely unprepared for unreasonably high prices for telephone calls when they travel abroad.
An official package of proposals will be ready in June. In autumn, the European Commission will open a special website where prices of operator companies in all 25 EU countries can be compared. The working group on this issue, which includes representatives of the legislative bodies of EU countries, is to soon develop amendments to national laws that will stimulate competition in the mobile communications market. "I am convinced that the development of this industry is not only necessary but also possible. We must achieve more favorable offers for consumers than those currently in place," Commissioner Reding promises.
The European Commission is already considering a number of complaints against mobile operators Vodafone, T-Mobile and O2, which allege that these companies, using their leading market position, overcharge for telephone calls outside the local network. For violating competition rules, the European Commission threatens to impose a fine on the companies equal to 10% of their annual revenue.