Euro MPs vote for cheaper mobile phone calls

Call charges branded 'outrageous'

Thursday, 12, Apr 2007 12:00

The European parliament has approved moves to reduce the cost of making mobile phone calls between member states.

A committee of the European parliament voted to support proposals from the European commission to cut so-called roaming charges by up to 70 per cent. Some 45 MEPs voted for the proposals, opposed by three MEPs.

Having passed committee scrutiny, the bill will go before the full parliament in the next few weeks and cheap calls could be in place before the summer peak travel period, assuming EU nations approve the changes.

Mobile phone companies have tried to argue that the costs are justified as it is expensive to route calls made abroad on rival networks. However, the European commission calculated the practice made them €8.5 billion (£5.7 billion) profit a year.

MEP Paul Rubig, who is steering the bill through parliament, said the present charges are outrageous. The commission has proposed capping roaming costs at €0.50 a minute for outgoing calls and €0.25 for incoming calls, plus VAT.

The European commission first examined the fairness of roaming charges in 2000.