ACCC issues findings on inquiry into mobile international roaming services
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today issued its Final Report on its inquiry into mobile international roaming.
International roaming enables mobile phone subscribers to use their mobile phone while travelling overseas. It enables travellers to make and receive voice calls, short message services (SMS), voicemail and other mobile services.
To enable travellers to use their mobile phones while travelling overseas, international roaming allows consumers to temporarily connect to (or 'roam' on to) a mobile network within the country they are visiting. For this service to be provided, the mobile phone service provider used by a consumer in Australia must enter into a wholesale 'roaming' agreement with a mobile network operator in the overseas country where the consumer is travelling.
"The ACCC's Final Report expresses concerns that prices for international roaming services appear to be very high – especially as compared to charges set for other mobile telephone services", an ACCC Commissioner, Mr Ed Willett, said.
"The inquiry also found that the most significant factor in the setting of retail prices paid by Australian travellers for international roaming services are the wholesale charges set by overseas mobile network operators when consumers roam onto their networks.
"While wholesale charges set by overseas mobile network operators are likely to be pushing up the price of international roaming services for Australian travellers, the ACCC does not have jurisdiction to directly regulate wholesale charges set by overseas mobile operators."
"That said, the Final Report does observe that competition in the retail market for international roaming services appears to be improving, with the increased availability of substitute services for consumers. These include prepaid international calling cards, SIM cards and mobile phone rentals.
"Further, the ACCC believes that market developments may drive greater price competition among mobile operators and improve price transparency and simplicity for end-users. These developments include advancements in technology that have allowed subscribers to select the network they roam on to, innovative pricing practices by carriers (such as "flat rates" for world geographical zones), and new entrants in the wholesale roaming market.
"The inquiry also found that the information provided by mobile operators to consumers about the prices for, and the use of, international roaming has improved in recent years.
"Notwithstanding these developments, the ACCC intends to assist emerging competitive forces in these markets by helping Australian mobile phone subscribers to make more informed choices in relation to international roaming services".
In this regard, the ACCC intends to:
monitor the average prices paid by Australian consumers for international roaming services as part of its annual report to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts on changes in the average price paid for telecommunications services, and
liaise with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to discuss appropriate measures for improving consumer information in the market.
"The ACCC also notes that concerns over prices for international roaming services have attracted attention in a number of international regulatory forums", Mr Willett said.
"The ACCC will also seek to find opportunities to assist these forums in their consideration of co-ordinated measures that could be undertaken by regulatory authorities to address concerns in relation to the provision of international roaming services".
Copies of the ACCC's Final Report on its inquiry into international roaming can be obtained from the ACCC website.
Mobile international inter-carrier roaming is a service that enables mobile subscribers travelling in a foreign country to use their mobile phones to make and receive calls by means of another network in that country (the "visited" network) since they are outside the coverage of the network they subscribe to (the "home" network). The service is a wholesale service supplied by the visited network to the home network operator, which is then re-supplied by the home network operator to its subscribers.
The ACCC's research functions
Under s. 28(1)(c) of the Trade Practices Act, the ACCC has the function to conduct research into matters affecting the interests of consumers, being matters with respect to which the Parliament has power to make laws.
The ACCC's report on changes in the prices paid for telecommunications services in Australia
Under Division 12, Part XIB of the Trade Practices Act, the ACCC reports on changes in the prices paid by different classes of consumers for a range of fixed-line and mobile telecommunication services. The Act requires the ACCC to provide this report to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts annually.
Public consultation on this issue
The ACCC has, since 2003, conducted reviews into a number of mobile services provided in Australia as part of its Mobile Services Review.
To assist in this review, the ACCC issued a discussion paper to inform its review of mobile services on 24 April 2003. The ACCC also held two public forums in Melbourne and Sydney in August and September 2003 as part of the broader Mobile Services Review, and conducted further market inquiries in relation to this matter during 2004.
As part of its Mobile Services Review, the ACCC also issued final decisions in relation to the Mobile Terminating Access Service and the Mobile Originating Access Service on 30 June 2004 and in relation to the Domestic Inter-Carrier Roaming Service on 23 December 2004.
