EU MOBILE PHONE CHARGE PROBE CONTINUES

12.00.00am GMT Mon 21st Jan 2008

A local LibDem Euro-MP has welcomed moves by the European Commission to investigate domestic mobile phone charges, as some UK operators charge customers much more than the actual time called, by charging per minute. Text message and data roaming charges will also be looked into.

Liz Lynne MEP, a strong supporter of last year's EU reduction of mobile phone call costs abroad, said:

"Initial investigations have revealed that customers who pay per minute rather than per second, pay for, on average, 20% more than the actual time called and I believe this is unfair.

"Calling plans and policies tend to be difficult enough to directly compare and I suspect many customers do not know whether their operator charges per minute. If all operators were forced to charge per second it would provide a level playing field and pricing structures would be much more transparent."

As well as domestic calling charges, text message and data roaming costs across the 27-member EU will be investigated, with findings to be released by the end of the year.

Liz added:

"Now that calling costs abroad have been reduced, text message costs at home and abroad need to be looked at, as there is concern that prices vary wildly across Europe and are on the high side. The last thing we want to happen is for holidaymakers to be overcharged for text messages, thinking that that is cheaper now too because calling costs have been forced down."

ENDS