Vodafone roaming costs cut pledge
Monday, 8 May 2006Mobile operator Vodafone says it will cut its average European roaming costs by at least 40% compared with last summer by April next year. Roaming costs are the charges paid by mobile users for making telephone calls abroad.
The company says the average cost will fall from more than 90 cent a minute to less than 55 cent a minute.
Vodafone says it is also willing to enter into agreements with other mobile operators to help cut roaming costs in Europe. It says it will offer other operators access to its network at a wholesale price of 45 cent a minute from October 2006, providing they offer the same rate for their networks.
Chief executive Arun Sarin said the European Commission and European Parliament had made it clear they expected to see changes in roaming costs, and today's move showed that the market was addressing their concerns.
Earlier this year the European Commission said it was considering a price cap on wholesale roaming charges for mobile phone calls made within the EU.
The commission said it had given industry plenty of time to cut prices but that it had failed to listen.
* Vodafone shares closed over 1.5% lower in London this evening.
