A €50 EU data roaming cap has cost Vodafone Ireland €400,000 after ComReg issued court proceedings against the mobile phone operator.
ComReg was initially looking for a €500,000 fine, but the mobile operator agreed to settle out of court for €100,000 less. The case concerned the method used by Vodafone to alert customers to the amount of money they had spent on data roaming packages.
The majority of Vodafone Ireland’s data roaming customers, over 90%, are on a default tariff which applies the €50 data roaming cap. It is fully compliant with ComReg’s interpretation of current EU data roaming regulations. This meant when they had spent €50 while roaming they would be alerted by Vodafone.
10% of Vodafone’s customers had agreed to be contacted after spending more money on data roaming. ComReg claimed this was in breach of the EU data roaming cap. Vodafone Ireland acknowledges for those customers who had agreed to a higher cap, the company was not in compliance with ComReg’s interpretation of the European regulations.
Vodafone Ireland strategy director Paul Ryan, said: "Vodafone has settled with the regulator in the interest of achieving clarity for our customers, however the company is disappointed with the regulator’s approach on this issue.
"Over the last 18 months Vodafone has repeatedly sought to engage with ComReg to seek guidance and clarity with regard to their requirements as would be the norm in these situations."
Those customers on a higher default tariff are being notified from today.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, February 14, 2012
