Britons paying too much for roaming?

We love catching little snippets like this from overseas. According to the Telegraph, British government officials worked in conjunction with mobile phone companies to keep roaming rates at an inflated rate. This is all according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, which contains minutes of meetings between the companies and officials.

The UK, of course, is defending its position:

Stephen Timms, the competitiveness minister, said: “The aim of the UK Government was to strike a balance, introducing changes that would benefit mobile phone users without stifling competition and innovation in the mobile phone industry.

“Our view was that roaming prices were indeed higher than could be justified, and the question was how – not whether – to address the problem.”

There was a motion to set a maximum charge of 27 pence per minute for international calls, and 10 pence per minute for incoming calls while abroad. The final rates were quite higher, 34 pence and 17 pence.

It’s not the rates themselves, though, that should have Britons up in arms. It’s the manner in which they came by the rates.

There is also evidence that Nigel Hickson, the official in charge of negotiating the UK position, sent supportive emails to the mobile firms, including messages such as “Fight goes on”.

We’re not sure how “fight goes on” is a supportive message, but we’re also not British. It would be quite the shame if the government colluded with the mobile phone companies to keep rates inflated.

[Telegraph]

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