Reuters - EU, mobile operators clash over call billing

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EU, mobile operators clash over call billing

Thursday, Aug 28, 2008 3:11PM UTC

By Huw Jones

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Mobile phone operators may face legislation from the European Commission to crack down on what the EU executive sees as overcharging, but industry said such a step would amount to micro-management.

European Union Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding is concerned that some mobile operators are charging by the minute rather than second for calls made while traveling between EU states, her spokesman said.

"In some cases operators are charging you for a call of one minute two seconds what they can charge you for two minutes. This leads to overcharging on average of 24 percent for calls made and 19 percent for calls received," the spokesman told a news briefing.

Mobile operators say they should have the fundamental right to determine their own prices in a competitive market as long as they are transparent about billing increments.

"The regulation of billing increments within the Eurotariff or any other roaming tariff would amount to micro-management and would risk further erosion of competitive differentiation in the market," said David Pringle, spokesman for the GSMA mobile industry lobby.

"Billing increments are a point of differentiation that operators can use to appeal to customers with different preferences," Pringle said.

In France, Spain, Lithuania and Portugal, operators have to bill by the second, but national legislation is not practical for roamed calls, the Commission spokesman said.

"This is an issue national regulators have recommended the European Commission to address ... If you tackle this issue you have to tackle it in EU legislation. This is something the European Commission will consider in the weeks to come," he added.

The EU has already adopted a law to cap the price of roamed voice calls for three years, with the cap due to be lowered on Saturday and in August next year before the law expires in 2010.

Reding is due to unveil proposals by early October to extend the voice roaming caps for another three years to 2013 and introduce a cap on roamed text messages.

She is also keen on capping the price of using a laptop or mobile phone to surf the Web while traveling in other EU states but it is unclear whether the rest of the Commission will back her.

Any plan for mandatory billing by the second would be included in her proposal. EU states and the European Parliament would have the final say.

(Editing by Dale Hudson)