Pricing Information -Reduce your costs

Callcosts.ie

www.callcosts.ie is an interactive price comparison website that has ben developed by ComReg to help consumers to compare the costs of personal fixed line, broadband, mobile, bundled services and EU Roaming voice and SMS costs. Depending on the nature and scale of your business these price plans may be relevant to you.

EU Roaming

EU Roaming

The Roaming Regulation came into effect on 29 June 2007 - (EC) No 717/2007 roaming on public mobile telephone networks within the Community. In addition, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources made Regulations in December 2007 designating ComReg as the National Regulatory Authority for the purpose of the Regulations S.I. 792 of 2007.

The Regulation placed a price cap on wholesale and retail voice calls while roaming in the European Union. It also placed a number of transparency measures helping to ensure that consumers are well informed. It requires mobile operators to give free personalised information on retail roaming charges when roaming in the EU. This included an SMS text to be automatically sent to an individual’s mobile phone with basic price information when roaming. Service providers are also required to provide a freephone number where detailed price information may be obtained.

In September 2008 The European Commission published a proposal to review the functioning of the Regulation. This followed a consultation launched on 7 May 2008. On June 8 2009 the Council of EU Telecoms Ministers formally adopted the new roaming rules proposed by the European Commission and approved by the European Parliament in April 2009.

1 July 2009 Amendments

Euro SMS tariff introduced - wholesale charge 0.04 cent ex VAT/retail charge 0.11 ex VAT,0.13 incl.VAT
By 1 July - Operators to advise consumers individually on the availability of the EURO SMS tariff
Wholesale data cap - €1.00 per megabyte, reducing to €0.80 on 1 July 2010 and €0.50 on 1 July 2011
Improved transparency - Basis personalised tariff information sent to a consumer’s mobile phone when they enter a member state, this message includes pricing for voice/SMS and data. It also includes a freephone number to contact your mobile operator while roaming and the number for accessing emergency services 112
Basic personalised tariff information on initiation of a data roaming session
Further reductions on Eurotariff (see below):

Wholesale voice rate

Effective Date	1 July 2009	1 July 2010	1 July 2011
Wholesale rate voice calls	0.26	0.22	0.18

Retail voice rate

Effective Date	1 July 2009	1 July 2010	1 July 2011
Calls made VAT incl.	0.52	0.47	0.43
Calls received VAT incl.	0.23	0.18	0.13

Note : (Subject to a possible minimum charge (30 seconds) applied by the mobile operator, per second billing charged thereafter, per second billing applies to calls received).

What kind of changes will come into force on in 2010

Data transparency - By 1 March operators to provide a facility where consumers can opt free of charge for a facility which provides information expressed in volume or consumption,( one financial limit must not exceed €50.00), by 1 July 2010 this will be the default limit for all consumers who have not opted for a another limit
Voicemail - From 1 July mobile operators shall not charge customers for the receipt of a voicemail message

Data Roaming EU costs

It is important for businesses to be aware of the costs of using mobile phones and data devices (mobile broadband USB devices, Blackberries etc.) to access the internet when abroad.
Each operator may charge different prices for each network and/or country abroad, so before you travel abroad contact your operator to ascertain the costs and the best network to use.

Some operators offer daily or monthly data packages/rates which you will need to consider opting into in advance of planned travel.

New EU rules mean that from March 1 2010 new transparency and safeguard mechanisms for data roaming services are being put in place. These transparency measures facilitate customers being able to opt-in to a maximum roaming limit. You should contact your mobile service provider for its offerings relating to this measure.

Top tips when using your mobile phone abroad

Before You Go

When you Arrive

Your Package
Ensure that your account allows you to use your mobile phone while abroad. Check if you are on a special operator roaming package, this will affect your roaming costs.

Your Phone
Check that your handset will work in the country you are travelling to.
Select ‘Manual Network Selection’ to allow you to choose the cheapest foreign network when you arrive.

Pre-pay Customers

If you are a pre-pay customer, top up before you go and check out the methods for top-up while abroad.

Roaming Costs

Check out www.callcosts.ie/roaming to calculate the cost of texts and calls while abroad. This will help you decide how best to communicate with home while in the EU. You can also check if a special operator roaming package is best for your planned usage.

Lost or stolen handsets

Check with your operator which number to call if your handset is lost or stolen and what handset details (serial number or IMEI) you need to keep a record of. Make a list of important numbers so that you can access them without your phone.

Voicemail
If someone leaves a voice message you may be charged. Additionally, listening to voicemail messages may be the same cost as calling home. Check these costs with your operator and check out what you to do if you wish to disable voicemail while roaming.

Welcome Message
When you arrive in the EU your ‘welcome message’ contains details of your rates for data, text(SMS) and MMS services as well as pricing for voice calls made and received.

Price Information
When roaming in the EU, calling your operator for roaming price information is free. Your ‘welcome message’ will inform you of the number to call.

Emergency Services
Know the number for calling Emergency Services. In the EU this is 112, and you will received this number in your ‘welcome message’

Data Charges
If you are using your handset or another device to provide internet access or mobile broadband, monitor your usage and associated costs using the data price detailed in your ‘welcome message’. This price could be considerably more than at home.

Lost or stolen handsets

Contact your operator as soon as possible to notify them of the incident and any details they require about your handset.