Mobile users get better deal using phones abroad

CONSUMERS are getting a better deal when using their mobile phones on foreign holidays or business trips abroad, but should be getting cheaper texts, watchdogs said yesterday.

Irish callers abroad on average pay 59 cents a minute to phone home on their mobiles and 31c a minute to receive calls.

Previously, Irish consumers were paying rates of around 62c a minute to call home and 34c to receive calls. But last summer the European Commission ordered all of Europe’s mobile phone companies, including Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3, to curb their charges to a maximum across Europe.