10 August 2007
Holidaymakers jetting off to sunnier climes this summer are being urged to contact their mobile networks before they leave in order to get the best rate for using their mobile phone while away.
From August mobile networks will have to offer customers Eurotariff rates on all calls made and received in a European country, after a recent EU ruling found that many roaming charges were too expensive -- however uSwitch is warning that many networks will not automatically place customers onto this new deal.
Customers could find themselves in for a pleasant surprise when calling relatives and friends back home while on holiday, with uSwitch calculating that they could be paying around 69% less to make calls when abroad and 67% less to receive them.
The new regulations stipulated that mobile phone operators should offer a Eurotariff to customers by July 30th, while customers who do not already have a roaming package as part of their contract are encouraged to call their operator to make the switch.
The Eurotariff is set to come into force automatically for all customers on September 30th 2007.
Steve Weller, Head of Communications Services at uSwitch.com, explained that 3 customers will now pay 25p instead of 80p per minute to phone the UK while they are in Europe, while they will pay 10p instead of 30p per minute to receive a call.
"Consumers should be mindful that operators may not go the extra mile to advertise the new deals for the time being as they will be keen to reap the benefits of the existing roaming charges incurred by this summer's late holidaymakers -- as seems to be the case with O2. Our advice to anyone going abroad with their mobile, whatever the network and wherever you are going, is to 'call before you fly'.
"Two final words of warning: people still need to exercise caution when using their mobile phone abroad as the new rules only cover telephone calls and exclude SMS, data and MMS services.
"They also need to take care when using their mobiles in non-EU member states: while most networks are extending the new deals to non-EU countries, there are some exceptions that may catch people out," he advised.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
Content for the uSwitch.com market news service is provided by a third party, Adfero Ltd. Whilst uSwitch.com makes reasonable efforts to check the reliability of this content, uSwitch.com does not guarantee the accuracy thereof or endorse the views or opinions given by Adfero Ltd, unless expressly stated otherwise.