Non-EU roaming charges double in past year

The cost of roaming charges for people using their mobile phones in the US and other non-EU countries has doubled in the past year.

A report by the regulator, ComReg, shows that average roaming cost for making calls outside the EU/European Economic Area (EEA) was 54c a minute at the start of last year, but €1.10 by the end of 2013.

The report also shows that the average price in Ireland for receiving a call from outside of the EU/EEA also doubled to 64c between the first quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2014.

However, despite the respective increases across both categories, the charges are still lower than the EU/EEA averages.

According to the report: “Ireland’s average price for making calls outside the EU/EEA (Rest of the World) has increased in the last two reported quarters but remains cheaper than the EU/EEA average to the Rest of the World. Ireland’s price was approximately 15% cheaper than the EU/EEA average for making calls to the Rest of the World in Q1 2014.

“Calls received in Ireland from outside of the EU/EEA (ROW) were approximately 49% more expensive in Q1 2014 than the EU/EEA average for receiving calls from ROW.”

In many other categories, the rates paid by Irish consumers is lower than the EU/EEA average. For example, Ireland’s average price for sending a Eurotariff text message has remained below the regulated cap of 8c and is slightly above the EU/EEA average.

However, in other areas, the Irish consumer is being charged more, such as with the average wholesale price per call made, which is marginally above the EU/EEA average.

Likewise, according to the report: “The average price per MB of data among Irish mobile operators has declined significantly [but] Ireland’s average price has remained above the EU/EEA average.”

Similarly, the surcharge as a result of billed minutes for calls made by all customers is also well above the EU/EEA average.

According to the report: “This is a reflection of the billing practice provided for by the Regulation for calls made, as Irish operator data suggests a substantial proportion of Eurotariff calls made are under the 30 seconds initial call charge. Per second billing applies thereafter.”

The Eurotariff roaming caps were set by the European Commission in July of last year, with measures introduced to benefit consumers such as more transparency of roaming charges for consumers and steps to counter data roaming bill shocks.

The latest ComReg report is the 13th information notice the regulator has published on roaming, and it also found that volumes of retail data traffic in Ireland have grown strongly over the period covered in the report.

Despite the doubling in the cost of roaming calls over the past year outside the EU, ComReg said it understood the number of complaints it had received in the period were “minuscule”.

However, a spokesman for ConReg advised customers to check the likely cost of using their phone before they travel abroad. Surveys undertaken by ComReg indicated that people who travelled abroad tended to have limited knowledge of roaming costs, leaving them open to higher bills.

Last week, ComReg struck out a range of charges levelled by Irish mobile phone operators on rivals selling discount roaming packages.