Some Relief For Global Roamers
Over two years ago, I wrote on how people who use their phones abroad are the victims of ridiculously high roaming rates which the carriers get away with because few people choose their carrier based on international per-minute pricing. Well, at least in the EU, the government is stepping in to publicize the ridiculous rates that some carriers charge for inbound roamers. It seems the EU body has been trying to regulate this market for a while, but since regulation is difficult to pass, they will instead alleviate the suffering of roamers by bringing some visibility and clarity to which carriers are gouging the deepest. We said two years ago that the reason carriers can charge such high rates in competitive markets is because the pricing information is hidden, and not well-known. By making it obvious and by putting the carriers in a side-by-side table, perhaps the roaming rates will become a competitive issue. I hope this works, it’s great to see governments influence companies by making information available, and not by regs or market interference.
