DUBLIN, Ireland—A joint survey conducted by the U.K. telecom regulator OFTEL and its Irish counterpart ODTR has found that consumers are still largely unaware of the potentially high cost of roaming.
The results indicate that the majority of consumers are dissatisfied with the cost of calls when abroad, although because the survey also found that more than 40 percent are unaware of just how much a mobile call home to Ireland from the United Kingdom costs, this could be an indication that consumers are not doing enough to educate themselves.
The survey also found that consumers are particularly dissatisfied with the fact that they are charged for receiving incoming calls while abroad. Given that these roamers are using capacity on their “host” network for which at least a modest level of remuneration is appropriate, this again suggests a serious lack of understanding among consumers.
Vodafone Ireland broadly welcomed the report, but criticized some of the published figures for calls to Ireland from the United Kingdom, saying that they did not reflect how little these calls could cost and that a range of charges should have been quoted.
