Global Roaming Tariff Tracker and Analysis

Roaming prices have confronted criticism in recent years and are undergoing significant changes at this present time. The European Commission has imposed regulation to the pricing of voice roaming charges and it saw the introduction of capped wholesale and retail voice prices for calls made within the EU on 30th August 2007, followed by capped SMS prices in July 2009 and wholesale and retail data prices also with further prices changes each year thereafter including SMS. Roaming is to be abolished in the EU at the end of 2015, with many operators already offering roam like home options.

Roaming especially in the consumer market has been perceived as complex and expensive, despite operators having moved to attractive on-net pricing and easier-to-understand pricing structures, roaming prices often still hit the headlines with users especially when using data, receive invoices of high amounts.

Findings reveal that offerings have increased through the launch of bundles and special schemes for both voice and data services. Both voice and data calls price changes have been mainly downward with some operators increasing rates to non-European destinations. Operators continue to seek to introduce innovative offers to help for the compensation of the potential loss in revenue from the imposed regulation.

Services (both postpaid and prepaid) and prices covered include:

Default (standard roaming) prices for:

• Calling back home
• Calling within a country
• Receiving a call
• Sending an SMS
• Accessing the Internet
• Details of Zoning

Pricing details of bundled offerings:

• Voice Bundles
  • Cost, Validity, inclusive allowance, inside and outside the bundle price & comments)
• Data Bundles
  • Cost, Validity, inclusive allowance, inside and outside the bundle price & comments)
• Integrated Bundles
  • Cost, Validity, inclusive allowances (Voice, SMS, Data) and comments
• Roam like Home Offerings
  • Cost, Validity, prices and comments

Key highlights include:

• 1. 92 Service Providers across 64 countries, and continuously adding
• 2. Default Voice and data tariffs plus the bundled offers available all presented in Excel in local currency, Euros and US Dollars.
• 3. Easy comparison by type of bundle, cost per bundle, cost per minute, cost per SMS etc.
• 4. Trends & Analysis Report with tables and charts sent out with each quarterly update.
• 5. Updated quarterly in its entirety

Who should subscribe to this service

• Mobile, Wireless Internet and Satellite Providers and Operators
• Software and Equipment Vendors
• Supplier organisations
• Regulatory Bodies
• Consultancies
• Investors, Venture Capital Companies, Financial Service Companies