EC slams roaming scams

The EC has hit back at mobile operators charging rip-off rates for international roaming.

The European Commission has created a Web site called 'Using my mobile abroad: am I paying too much?' which lets consumers compare sample roaming prices around the European Union.

For example, the site reveals that a four-minute peak-rate call from Malta to the UK can cost €3.45 if the caller's home network is O2, roaming on GO Mobisle, whereas the same call could cost €7.34 with Vodafone, also roaming on GO Mobisle.

Information society and media commissioner Viviane Reding announced the move in July, in order to raise awareness of the high costs of roaming in Europe and encourage operators to drop their prices. The EC is also investigating mobile firms in Germany and the UK following claims that their roaming fees are too high.

Reding said in a statement: "At a time when we have seen in Europe so much progress in other telecommunications services, the cost of using your mobile phone abroad is hard to believe."