Minister welcomes proposed roaming charges regulation
Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey has welcomed the announcement by the EU Commission of a proposed regulation designed to tackle cross-border roaming charges.
The proposed regulation, expected to come into effect in 2007, if implemented, will see the abolition of extra charges for receiving a phone call while travelling in EU.
"I am delighted that the Commission has recognised the difficulties that roaming charges can pose to business and consumers. Already, under pressure from myself and my Northern colleague Angela Smith, three companies have dropped their roaming charges for pay monthly Irish customers travelling to Northern Ireland.
"By driving up the cost of doing business, roaming charges inhibit commerce across borders and unnecessarily penalise consumers," said Mr Dempsey.
The Commission hopes to have the draft regulation ready by June and adopted under co-decision with the Parliament by 2007 at the latest. This would allow the regulation to come into effect in the second half of 2007.
