Republican News · Thursday 6 February 2002

Are mobile phone companies ripping us off?

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Telecommunications, Seán Crowe, has asked the Director of Telecommunication Regulation (DTR) to investigate mobile phone operator Vodafone's "extremely high charges in comparison to other European countries". Crowe made his call after it emerged that Vodafone charges in Ireland were on average §542 per customer, compared with §312 in Germany, §347 in Italy and §455 in Britain and only a week after Vodafone and other mobile phone companies in Britain were called on to cut their tariffs by the British Communications regulator.

"It is inconceivable that operating costs alone could account for these very wide variations in charges," said Crowe. "These are extremely high charges in comparison with other European countries. I am calling on Etain Doyle, the Director of Telecommunications Regulation, to investigate this issue as a matter of urgency to ensure that Irish customers aren't being ripped off."

Last week, mobile phone operators in Britain were threatened with court action by Oftel, the industry watchdog, if they didn't reduce their charges significantly.

David Edmonds, Oftel director general, has accused British mobile phone franchise holders, including Vodafone and O2, of "acting against the public interest". He wants to see a 15% cut in mobile phone-related charges this year, with similar cuts over the next three years. He believes that mobile phone charges are 40% higher than they should be.

The question is, are Irish customers being ripped off too?