The House of Lords EU Committee has today written to the European Commission to indicate its support for the German Presidency’s suggested cap on wholesale roaming charges of around 20p per minute.

The Committee says that a cap at this level – combined with the significant competition in the mobile telephone services market and a consumer protection tariff – should ensure that the costs of roaming charges to customers are significantly reduced.

Members of the Committee said that the EU Commission was right to attempt to tackle this issue as excessive roaming charges act as a barrier to the functioning of the single market – both in terms of the actual cost of phone services and more widely by the extra costs they impose on small and medium size businesses attempting to operate across the EU.

Lord Freeman, chairman of the Lords EU Sub-Committee on the Internal Market, said: “We support the EU Commission’s attempts to protect mobile phone users from excessive roaming charges. The German Presidency’s suggested wholesale price limit of 30 Euro cents per minute should ensure savings are passed on to customers.”

“The fact that so many companies have taken steps to reduce roaming charges once faced with the prospect of EU regulations suggests charges have been excessive in the past.

“We will now consider the issue in detail and are hoping to produce our final report soon after Easter.”

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