The changes, due to come into force across the EU's 27 member nations
from July 2009 will not only affect call charges but also data charges
which are directly associated with web browsing. The commission is
seeking wholesale caps for data roaming with a proposed €1 per megabyte
safeguard limit for wholesale data roaming fees which is hoped will
stimulate competition and transparent retail prices.
For many years supporters and advocates of mobile web services, including Commercetuned,
have been frustrated with the slow consumer take up speed of mobile web
having been restricted by high prices for data as operators tried to
claw back revenue from the ill fated 3G bidding process. We recently
reported figures from Nielsen on the increase use of internet services
via mobile phones and the potential impact it could start to have in
shaping web search.
We work in a globalised society and the European Union has always
tried to model itself as an efficient unified trading block. Therefore
it has been ridiculous that on most tariffs in the UK consumers are
given unlimited web data access in with operators such as T-mobile (a German owned operator) but if I visit Germany and want to use Google
(on T-mobile) to find local information then we are whacked with
roaming data fees in excess of £3 per MB or €3.6. We therefore fully
endorse this proposal and greet this reduction in data costs as an
exciting next step towards a prosperous mobile web....wherever you are.
by Paul Rudman
No comments:
Post a Comment