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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

EU says new roaming plans could be in place for July 2012

A new way of dealing with calls when ‘roaming’ abroad in Europe could be introduced in a couple of years - and new charges could arrive in July 2012. That’s the message from the European Commission, which has just announced a preliminary deal on new EU Roaming rules. The European Parliament is expected to approve this agreement in May 2012, with the Council of the European Union expected to give its approval in June. The new rules could then become law on 1st July 2012.

The maximum cost of calls and text messages would be cut from July, with a price cap for mobile data services also introduced. It means consumers would pay no more than €0.29 per minute (around 29p incl. VAT) to make a call, €0.08 per minute to receive a call, €0.09 to send a text message and €0.70 per Megabyte for mobile data services data when travelling abroad. There’s be a further cut in July 2013 and again in July 2014, at which point data would be just €0.20 per MB.

In addition, consumers will also receive information about roaming charges when they travel to countries outside the EU. From July 2012, people travelling outside the EU will get a warning text message, email or ‘pop-up’ window on their mobile device when they are nearing €50 of data downloads (or any other pre-agreed level). They’ll then be blocked from data use unless they confirm they are happy to go over this level.

From 1st July 2014 - assuming the new laws are passed - customers will be able to agree a separate mobile contract with a different mobile operator for roaming. Alternatively, customers will be able to select a local network ‘on the spot’ and benefit from its roaming prices.

Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President for the Digital Agenda, said “Consumers are fed up with being ripped off by high roaming charges. The new roaming deal gives us a long-term structural solution, with lower prices, more choice and a new smart approach for data and Internet browsing. The benefits will be felt in time for the summer break - and by summer 2014, people can shop around for the best deal.”

[European Commission roaming website]

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Opinion Articles

‘The Eyes Have It’ at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

DoCoMo are one of many network operators and handset manufacturers demonstrating innovative new products as Mobile World Congress. Our eye was caught by the employee demonstrating “Eye Controlled Earphones”. It’s a good job the ladies from the CBOSS stand weren’t walking past at the time.

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'Mobile Money Monday' at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Monday’s Mobile World Congress conference agenda dedicated one of 4 streams to Mobile Money - Transfers, Transactions and Technology allowing all stakeholders to share experiences and debate the future of Mobile and Money.

Two types of service dominated presentations and panel discussions; Near Field Communication (NFC) technology enabling payment at traditional Point of Sale (PoS), and the Mobile Wallet replacing plastic or cash.

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‘Innovation Corner’ at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Here’s my pick of the 3 most innovative companies I’ve uncovered at the 2010 Mobile World Congress.

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Google “Mobile First” from Eric Schmidt’s Key Note at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, presented a compelling vision of a mobile centric future. The phone has become the “high value end point” for Google services enabled by a combination of increasing handset power, mobile data networks and cloud computing. By far the scarcest resource is the bandwidth available through the mobile data networks. Google appear committed to work with Mobile Network Operators (MNO) to maximise bandwidth usage, although several audience questions suggested scepticism from the main stream mobile industry. Eric expressed a need to maintain a harmonious relationship with MNOs stating Google could not operate its service on mobile devices without their co-operation.

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The great Windows Mobile 7 conspiracy theory

Mark Bridge writes:

I like a good conspiracy theory. A good one, mind you. None of this “Funny thing happened on the way to Mars” nonsense. Oh no, not me. And, despite occasionally mirroring Jerry Fletcher by balancing a bottle on the door handle, I’ve never been inclined to publish such a theory. Until now.

You see, it’s Mobile World Congress in a fortnight’s time. Which is when the great and the good of the mobile industry – along with their mates and hangers-on – head for Barcelona. Microsoft will be there. They’re holding a press briefing on Monday afternoon. And there’s a lot of talk about Windows Mobile 7 being (unofficially) on the agenda. But where’s the evidence?

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