Ireland has put a proposal to the meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, calling for the cost of mobile phones made abroad to be cut or even scrapped. The proposal is expected to face fierce industry opposition.
Austria, currently EU president, will study whether roaming costs could be reduced, a spokesman for the presidency confirmed last night.
The Irish proposal lends support to the European Commission's expected announcement next week of an outline regulation to bring down roaming charges, seen as a money-spinner for mobile phone companies but a bane for business travellers and tourists.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern made the proposal to cut or eliminate the charges on using a mobile phone outside a consumer's home country, an Irish spokesman said. Such a proposal would show citizens the EU was working in their interests, he said.
EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding is due to present an update on roaming charges and outline a new regulation to bring down roaming charges on Tuesday. Reding has said roaming charges are too high. But mobile phone operators say they are already bringing down the fees.
The EU executive has said it would not intervene to fix the price of mobile phone calls.
Regulation would need the approval of member states and the European Parliament. Brussels has long indicated its concern about roaming charges.
In February 2005 the EU executive formally charged Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile unit and Vodafone for overcharging visitors from abroad whey they used mobile phones in Germany. In July last year, the Commission again said it was not satisfied that roaming charges reflected effective competition and announced it would take action.
