Sinn Fein MLA Megan Fearon has welcomed a range of initiatives currently being taken by mobile communication operators to end customers incurring inadvertent roaming charges. Ms Fearon said: “I met with OFCOM last August to discuss the dreadful scenario for customers in south Armagh and other border areas who are constantly roaming into different networks and incurring huge annual costs up to £300 per year according to OFCOM research. Since then we have been in regular contact with OFCOM on the progress on the various issues raised and I am pleased that OFCOM recently contacted me to inform me of the measures which mobile providers are taking to alleviate this issue. Mobile communication operators are now bound by EU regulation which that requires that they take reasonable steps to prevent their customers from paying inadvertent roaming charges. Major providers such as Three, Vodafone, EE and O2 have plans to target inadvertent roaming through a combination of special tariffs, technical innovations and advice to customers. OFCOM has produced a leaflet containing lots of relevant information which can be accessed via the website www.ofcom.org.uk ” The MLA added: “While I welcome these steps I also recognize that many of these operators are also in the market on the southern side of the border. This means that there should be no Impediment to establishing an Ireland wide tariff which would remove roaming altogether and I wish to see steps taken in this direction.”
Newry Democrat
4th February 2014
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