Mobile Phone Reviews
 
 
Guide to cut cost of phoning home from abroad

Wed, 25 Jan 2006

According to telecoms watchdog Ofcom, mobile phone users could be paying up to five times more than they need to for making calls abroad.

The majority of holidaymakers and those on business would be better off using payphones or even buying a new mobile phone when overseas, according to the UK telephone watchdog.

A spokesman said Ofcom was looking at two issues, "One thing is that people are unsure of charges they are going to incur when they travel abroad.

"The second issue is to look at the international market and at the amount one operator charges another. The European Commission (EC) is working with national regulators on an initiative to combat unfair behaviour by networks," he added.

Prices are pushed up because the foreign network provider charges the UK operator, who then bills the customer. This means making calls and sending texts from abroad usually costs more especially for pay-as-you-go customers.

The spokesman continued, "Research has shown that some consumers are not aware of the price of international roaming. Ofcom wants to bring attention to it and advise as to how consumers can keep call costs down when abroad."

The guide, called Using Your Mobile Abroad, includes examples of how customers using T-Mobile, O2, Vodafone, 3 and Orange could save money by switching to a different tariff with the same operator. Vodafone users could reduce costs by around 80 per cent by switching from a standard pay monthly tariff to the Vodafone Passport tariff, the report suggests.

O2 now offers an International Traveller Service, which gives savings of 30-70 per cent on the cost of using the phone overseas and T-mobile is to re-launch its ''World Class'' service, offering cheaper calls with some networks in 40 countries. Orange is also reviewing its tariffs for use overseas.
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