[Ben]

Better late than never.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/09/vodafone_ends_ireland_roaming_charges/


Vodafone has announced the end of roaming charges for its Republic of Ireland customers, while travelling to Northern Ireland and Britain, following O2's lead.

The new arrangement kicks off in mid-March and follows an announcement by rival O2 in early February, when it unveiled its all-island tariff and said that its customers would no longer incur inadvertent roaming charges while taking calls near the border.

Inadvertent roaming occurs when a mobile phone user unknowingly connects to a base station in Northern Ireland while in the Republic of Ireland, and vice versa. The move is expected to boost trade between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, which is the Irish Republic's biggest market for both exports and imports.

"The recent announcements by Vodafone and O2 that they are eliminating their roaming charges has to be welcomed as a worthwhile first step to breaking down some of the barriers to cross-border trade," said Bernard Durkan TD, Fine Gael spokesperson on communications, in a statement. "Consumers and businesses in border areas have been unfairly ripped-off for years by cross border roaming."

Durkan said the announcement is long overdue and said the delay in the introduction of the all-island phone tariffs is a reflection of a lack of competition in the Irish mobile phone market.

"The scarcity of mobile phone operators has allowed those in the market to act almost as they please," Durkan said.

The announcement comes days after ComReg added a roaming advice section to its website. The communications regulator has warned mobile users of the costs of using their phones abroad, and has added a new section to its website alerting users to the cost of roaming charges when abroad.

The section currently covers the four main holiday destinations for Irish consumers -- Spain, Portugal, Italy and the UK -- and covers both prepay and post-pay phones. More countries will be added to the site in the coming months, and prices will be kept up to date.

ComReg is hoping to raise awareness among mobile users after a survey carried out by the body last year found that more than half of Irish consumers had limited knowledge of roaming charges. A further 20 percent admitted they knew nothing about the charges at all.

[3GScottishUser]

They had to did'nt they after 02 made their move.

This puts 3 Ireland and 3 UK at a real disadvantage now in a market where they have struggled to date.

Lets see if they hold out as the only cross border roaming network.

[Hands0n]

I reckon that this is but the beginning of the end for the traditional cross-border charges. The EU is putting the mobile ops under pressure, and will regulate if they do not take the hint to stop ripping off the Customers when travelling.

I kind of think that Ireland is being a bit of a test case for the UK mobile operators. It won't be so easy across the international mobile operators, their notions of still being a PTT monopoly will prevail - besides which the Europeans have not de-regulated as comprehensively as the UK.

But methinks light at the end of the tunnel - Ireland today, tomorrow The World :D

[solo12002]

" Vodafone has announced the end of roaming charges for its Republic of Ireland customers, while travelling to Northern Ireland and Britain, following O2's lead.


And guess what, if you happen to be one of the poor B'''erds like me who live in Northern Ireland and tavels anywere near the border, Im billed roming charge, same as someone on vodafone/o2 in the rest of the UK are.

One has to question why Vodafone and o2 Ireland which are owned by Vodafone and o2 Uk din't make this across the board, as it is, it is likely to be chaeper to take a Vodafone/o2 contract out in the south to use in the north as you will not have to pay roaming charges, take one out in the north and you do, what a F'''ing laugh.

When I see the o2 news last month I thought it applied to both, vodafone have just copied o2.