British Miniater opposes EU reform of roaming charges

"Britain was accused yesterday of siding with mobile phone companies to
block an EU plan for a dramatic cut in charges designed to bring in
cheap holiday calls next summer.

Proposals for a strict cap on so-called roaming charges for calls made
abroad were rejected by Margaret Hodge, the Industry Minister, who said
it would impose too much of a burden on phone companies.

Mrs Hodge argued yesterday for a six-month window for mobile firms to
come up with voluntary cut-price packages for consumers before the EU
set mandatory limits.

Viviane Reding, the EU Information Society Commissioner, said
Britain's stance would sink her plans for an enforced cut of up to 70
per cent in tariffs in time for next year's summer holidays. "


and

"Sharon Bowles, a Liberal Democrat MEP, accused Mrs Hodge of seeking to
protect mobile company profits. "

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...500160,00.html

I think it would be very difficult to find an example of a politician
more naively impressed by industry canvassing.

Though Ms Hodge points out that average roaming charges dropped by a
few percent last year, and that voluntary changes by the mobile
companies are the way to go, it seems to have completely dropped off
her radar that many roaming charges had previously doubled and trebled
within the previous few years.

"andy" <andy.ggrps@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:1165938054.482416.231240@79g2000cws.googlegro ups.com...
> "Britain was accused yesterday of siding with mobile phone companies to
> block an EU plan for a dramatic cut in charges designed to bring in
> cheap holiday calls next summer.
>
> Proposals for a strict cap on so-called roaming charges for calls made
> abroad were rejected by Margaret Hodge, the Industry Minister, who said
> it would impose too much of a burden on phone companies.
>
> Mrs Hodge argued yesterday for a six-month window for mobile firms to
> come up with voluntary cut-price packages for consumers before the EU
> set mandatory limits.
>
> Viviane Reding, the EU Information Society Commissioner, said
> Britain's stance would sink her plans for an enforced cut of up to 70
> per cent in tariffs in time for next year's summer holidays. "
>
>
> and
>
> "Sharon Bowles, a Liberal Democrat MEP, accused Mrs Hodge of seeking to
> protect mobile company profits. "
>
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...500160,00.html
>
> I think it would be very difficult to find an example of a politician
> more naively impressed by industry canvassing.
>
> Though Ms Hodge points out that average roaming charges dropped by a
> few percent last year, and that voluntary changes by the mobile
> companies are the way to go, it seems to have completely dropped off
> her radar that many roaming charges had previously doubled and trebled
> within the previous few years.
>

I wonder if it's anything to do with the VAT charged on calls

ABC wrote:
> "andy" <andy.ggrps@googlemail.com> wrote in message
> news:1165938054.482416.231240@79g2000cws.googlegro ups.com...
> > "Britain was accused yesterday of siding with mobile phone companies to
> > block an EU plan for a dramatic cut in charges designed to bring in
> > cheap holiday calls next summer.
> >
> > Proposals for a strict cap on so-called roaming charges for calls made
> > abroad were rejected by Margaret Hodge, the Industry Minister, who said
> > it would impose too much of a burden on phone companies.
> >
> > Mrs Hodge argued yesterday for a six-month window for mobile firms to
> > come up with voluntary cut-price packages for consumers before the EU
> > set mandatory limits.
> >
> > Viviane Reding, the EU Information Society Commissioner, said
> > Britain's stance would sink her plans for an enforced cut of up to 70
> > per cent in tariffs in time for next year's summer holidays. "
> >
> >
> > and
> >
> > "Sharon Bowles, a Liberal Democrat MEP, accused Mrs Hodge of seeking to
> > protect mobile company profits. "
> >
> > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...500160,00.html
> >
> > I think it would be very difficult to find an example of a politician
> > more naively impressed by industry canvassing.
> >
> > Though Ms Hodge points out that average roaming charges dropped by a
> > few percent last year, and that voluntary changes by the mobile
> > companies are the way to go, it seems to have completely dropped off
> > her radar that many roaming charges had previously doubled and trebled
> > within the previous few years.
> >
>
> I wonder if it's anything to do with the VAT charged on calls

I don't think so, as that is only about 15% of the total charge.

Having looked into this a bit more, I'm advised not to take the article
at face value, and it is true it was written abroad ...

Britain wants to see lower roaming charges; it's just a question of how
best to get there. The old dilemma between market regulation and
competitive forces I suppose - if intervention does one thing, then
the providers might be looking for other loopholes ...

On 12 Dec 2006 11:14:51 -0800, "andy" <andy.ggrps@googlemail.com>
wrote:

>
>ABC wrote:
>> "andy" <andy.ggrps@googlemail.com> wrote in message
>> news:1165938054.482416.231240@79g2000cws.googlegro ups.com...
>> > "Britain was accused yesterday of siding with mobile phone companies to
>> > block an EU plan for a dramatic cut in charges designed to bring in
>> > cheap holiday calls next summer.
>> >
>> > Proposals for a strict cap on so-called roaming charges for calls made
>> > abroad were rejected by Margaret Hodge, the Industry Minister, who said
>> > it would impose too much of a burden on phone companies.
>> >
>> > Mrs Hodge argued yesterday for a six-month window for mobile firms to
>> > come up with voluntary cut-price packages for consumers before the EU
>> > set mandatory limits.
>> >
>> > Viviane Reding, the EU Information Society Commissioner, said
>> > Britain's stance would sink her plans for an enforced cut of up to 70
>> > per cent in tariffs in time for next year's summer holidays. "
>> >
>> >
>> > and
>> >
>> > "Sharon Bowles, a Liberal Democrat MEP, accused Mrs Hodge of seeking to
>> > protect mobile company profits. "
>> >
>> > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...500160,00.html
>> >
>> > I think it would be very difficult to find an example of a politician
>> > more naively impressed by industry canvassing.
>> >
>> > Though Ms Hodge points out that average roaming charges dropped by a
>> > few percent last year, and that voluntary changes by the mobile
>> > companies are the way to go, it seems to have completely dropped off
>> > her radar that many roaming charges had previously doubled and trebled
>> > within the previous few years.
>> >
>>
>> I wonder if it's anything to do with the VAT charged on calls
>
>I don't think so, as that is only about 15% of the total charge.
>
>Having looked into this a bit more, I'm advised not to take the article
>at face value, and it is true it was written abroad ...
>
>Britain wants to see lower roaming charges; it's just a question of how
>best to get there. The old dilemma between market regulation and
>competitive forces I suppose - if intervention does one thing, then
>the providers might be looking for other loopholes ...
The problem is that the government impose an indirect tax on all of us
when they charge the companies so much for the radio spectrum
allocations.
Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

"Brian A" <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:s5m0o25qshv05qbqp733t32cgu0fkfacmq@4ax.com

[snip]

> The problem is that the government impose an indirect tax
> on all of us when they charge the companies so much for
> the radio spectrum allocations.

The problem was the networks bidding such obscene amounts for the 3G
licences.

Ivor