EU member states give Euro tariff the nod
EU member states have approved the introduction of the Euro tariff for mobile roaming. The decision follows a year of wrangling and discussion, and numerous committee examinations and rounds of voting. Network operators have three months to implement the tariff, from 12 July. For anyone too bored to work it out, SimplySwitch …
Expect home network tariffs to go up
Great, cheaper calls just to ring back and say "I'm on the beach", which means moaning operators will just simply put up home tariffs instead to compensate.
...and home revenues to go down?
I do wonder if operators will be able to get away with raising prices at home, given so many of us are entirely acquainted with the wonders of digital communication, to the point of exhaustion, the novelty is gone, other costs of living (mortgage, anywone?) have gone up, wages are semi-stagnant, and mobile calls are already as expensive as they can be, after years of price-experimentation on the part of the operators.
It can't but help Germany's situation
For some mobile plans, it will now be cheaper to call internationally back to Germany than to call a different operator's network from within the country. These plans in particular make it extremely cheap to talk within the network, but very pricey to call outside of it - consumers will notice the paradox. This can't help but to put competitive pressure on the operators there.
Of course, this may not happen (there's no direct benefit to Telco A to charge telco B less to terminate a call - why start a price-war when things are so profitable right now!?) and the paradox will remain until the Government intervenes, which it probably won't, because they like the idea of their darling Telekom having every advantage in Europe and the world.
