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FINE GAEL TD Noel Rock has said that he is concerned that Irish mobile phone providers will be able exploit a loophole to continue charging customers higher roaming charges, when EU legislation banning roaming charges comes into effect in June.
One part of the rules was the concept of ‘roam like at home’. According to the EU Commission, travelers are meant to be able to “call, text and surf on their mobile devices when abroad in the EU for no extra charge on top of the price they pay at home”.
Mobile giant Three, however, had announced that Irish customers on its all-you-can-eat data plan will not be able to avail of the same all-you-can-eat data offer when roaming in the EU.
Rock wants the Irish Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, to investigate the matter, something which the regulator has said it will pursue, reported the Irish Independent.
The Dublin North West TD said: “The loophole will allow operators to impose high roaming charges by modifying consumers’ contracts by ensuring that offers such as unlimited data are described as a service benefit rather than a central part of a contract.
This is completely anti-consumer.
Rock added that he hoped Comreg investigated the situation as a “matter of urgency”.
He added that Irish customers had waited for the end of roaming charges for a long time, and that it was vital to ensure they “reap the benefits and don’t have the wool pulled over their eyes by mobile operators”.
A spokesperson for Comreg told TheJournal.ie: “We are aware that a mobile operator has recently informed its customers of new contractual arrangements that purport to draw a distinction between a contractual data allowance and an unlimited all-you-can-eat-data “service benefit”.
We have sought information from the operator concerned so that we can assess whether the operator is in compliance with its existing obligations, as well as with the new roaming rules that will come into force on 15 June.
“We will not say anything more about this matter until we can do so without prejudicing our compliance function.”
EU rules
The move comes ahead of new EU regulations that are set to come into force in the middle of June.
Telecoms operators are obliged to include this ‘roam-like-at-home’ provision in customer contracts. However, customers can still be charged for data usage. As part of the EU’s plan, roaming customers will be charged the wholesale rate for data, 85 cent per megabyte (MB).
In cases where an operator is providing an all you can eat service, the company can limit data volumes to twice what the customer would be able to buy with the value of their contract.
For example, for someone with a €40 per month contract, each 85 cent buys them 1MB of data. €40 buys about 4.8GB of data, so the customer would be entitled to a 9.6GB allowance.
The Irish Independent reported that there is a loophole where a company’s data offering is classed as a ‘service benefit’, rather than a ‘core’, part of a customer contract.
It said a company could do this to provide a lower data allowance to customers travelling in the EU.
However, the EU Commission said in a statement: “There is no loophole by which part of the domestic data allowance could be regarded as gift or side benefit and would therefore not count when traveling abroad.
Doing so would appear like a clear case of circumvention, for which there is no basis in the roaming regulation.
With reporting from Paul O’Donoghue
Some improvement from 4 days and stops/hops.
Aptly dubbed the kangaroo flight.
@Eamonn Duggan: although, just because they can fly non stop doesn’t mean they should. 17 hours stuck in a seat is almost too much to bare. I’d still break up the flight by stopping somewhere in Asia. Nice step forward all the same. I’d say in another 10 years it will be half that.
@Peter Cavey: With scram jet technology we should be able to travel from Sydney to London in 2hours. Although we might have to be fit enough to be able to withstand the G-forces involved. Looking forward to the next few years of this hypersonic test flights.
@Peter Cavey: how are they gonna half the time in 10 years ??
@Paul Power: With supersonic craft on a sub-orbital trajectory, akin to an ICBM.
@Eamonn Duggan: It is a big improvement on “4 stops”. However I’m sure you are of the Australian route these days is one of three from Ireland.
1..Dublin – Doha- Australia ( various cities)…. Qatar Airways Daily.
2…Dublin – Abu Dhabi – Australia ( various cities)…. Etihad Airways twice daily.
3…Dublin -Dubai – Australia ( various cities) .. Emirates. Twice daily.
All routes take 16 to 20 hours depending on destinations.
I would suggest also the mid-east airlines are far superior to Australian carrier Qantas in terms of comfort and service.
Brave route, but doubtful if it will last.
That’s a long time to be stuck in recirculated farts. Wouldn’t do it meself but class that it can be done! I’m also wondering how many meals are served. 3/4?
@Gareth Wogan: and tbh all the worthwhile places to see in Oz are on the east coast so….
@Gareth Wogan: lot to see in the west. Just depends what you consider ‘worthwhile’.
@Bilbo Baggins: name 5 good things to do.
@Gareth Wogan: Personally I prefer western Australia. It’s a shame most people tend to travel up and down the east coast.
@Gareth Wogan: I flew the Dubai – Auckland a couple years ago, 17.5hrs. Think we got 4 meals in economy. Surprisingly comfortable and a very modern, up to date entertainment system. Made the journey much easier than I thought.
@darren: I was there few months back. I guess what I want to say is that for all that way to travel it doesn’t really have lots going on. Lots of wine tours and went to rottnest island which is cool but east coast has way more things to do. I should say that I really don’t like Oz anyway. Asia is the spot to go
@Gareth Wogan: I went to WA via Thailand and wish I had stayed longer. WA actually made me want to return to Australia to see the east side ( I went via Japan and again wished I had stayed longer). Although I will agree the east has more to do I liked the west better. Rottnest.. beautiful walk, I did that in 45 degrees which wasn’t the smartest idea! Would love to see more of Asia but I may have to wait for the kids to grow up now.
It’s about the same length of time as waiting in A&E in the hospital (17 hrs). so I could cope with That!
@Gerry Fallon: Very true, the A&E seats are not so comffortable and no food or drink provided.
17 hours is a long time to be stuck on a plane…I hope they show plenty of movies.
@CharlotteFrench.ie: They have are normal long haul flights
Time in the air comfort is down to the plane and the carrier.
787 Dreamliner is the quietest, most comfortable plane I’ve been on to date.
Qantas air cabin crew are quite cheery too.
If travelling for that length of time one would frequently get up and walk around. The 787
has a load of space at the back, larger than any other plane I’ve seen. This feeds in to a happier crew
and good exercise room for a passenger to ward off DVT.
Tesla time to step up your game…
@Karl Doran: Putin has this sorted. Just need to strap yourself to one of his missiles
I’d hate to be stuck on a plane for that length of time
A complete mare. 17 hours in cattle class on Quaintarse. Why would you do it. Insane!!!
@Alex Carroll: The novelty is the same as Concorde, without cconsidering the waiting time in airports.
Give us a break!
It’s not the first time, there were scheduled services before I believe using a B777-200LR (which to this day is still the longest range passenger aircraft excluding military tankers) Not sure which airline but I think it was quantas. They stopped it for a few reasons, as it was discovered that there’s only so long you can put people in economy. Then there was a brief period of business class only flights and in the end the fuel burn just made the whole thing uneconomic.. 787 fuel burn is probably what’s making this viable again.. anyone know if the 787-9 has longer legs than the triple?
Fair play, great to see this and will hopefully get faster in a few years time
It is a big improvement on “4 stops”. However I’m sure you are of the Australian route these days is one of three from Ireland.
1..Dublin – Doha- Australia ( various cities)…. Qatar Airways Daily.
2…Dublin – Abu Dhabi – Australia ( various cities)…. Etihad Airways twice daily.
3…Dublin -Dubai – Australia ( various cities) .. Emirates. Twice daily.
All routes take 16 to 20 hours depending on destinations.
I would suggest also the mid-east airlines are far superior to Australian carrier Qantas in terms of comfort and service.
Brave route, but doubtful if it will last for reasons above
have your say