The
office of the EU Competition Commissioner raided the head
quarters of five major mobile phone companies in the UK
and Germany last week. The Commissioner is investigating
the possibility of the mobile phone companies price fixing
calls made and received by customers abroad as a result
of roaming networks.
There
is speculation as to whether the Commissioner will investigate
companies based in other EU companies or not. Some argue
that it would be useless as the companies will have had
time to burn any evidence of a price-fixing deal. However,
a spokesman for the office of the EU Competition Commissioner
stated that no eventuality should be excluded.
For
the consumer, the investigation may result in the reduction
of the cost of receiving and making mobile phone calls abroad.
For the companies, this could result in a fairly substantial
drop in profits as roaming charges account for approximately
20% of mobile phone companies earnings.
Comment:
This investigation can only be good news for mobile
phone users who take their phone abroad and are unaware
of the ridiculous cost of receiving calls, let alone making
calls.
