Mobile operators must do more to tackle consumer “bill shock,”...
Mobile operators must do more to tackle consumer “bill shock,” the U.K. Office of Communications said Thursday. Its review into the causes of unexpectedly high phone bills found three main causes: (1) Downloading while traveling outside the EU, but also…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
when using data in the U.K. via smartphones and other devices. (2) Use of mobile voice services in-country, mostly by exceeding inclusive allowances or calling numbers outside allowances. (3) Lost or stolen phones, where financial harm can be substantial. Ofcom also found low consumer awareness about how to protect themselves from bill shock, it said. The EU roaming regulation requires operators to set a cut-off limit once a customer’s mobile Internet bill hits euro 50 ($67) while travelling in the EU, Ofcom said. Ofcom and other regulators want to extend that rule to protect Europeans when they travel worldwide, it said. The EU is revamping the roaming regulation, but Ofcom wants U.K. mobile providers to voluntarily set worldwide financial caps and alerts before then, it said. If the EU doesn’t extend existing protections and if operators fail to agree on caps and alerts voluntarily, Ofcom said, it will consider intervening. The regulator also asked operators to do more to develop “opt-in” measures such as rates that let customers set their own caps or get alerts, it said. It’s also talking to them about introducing maximum liability limits for stolen or lost phones, and making their charges more transparent.