The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) welcomes the finding of the Parliamentary inquiry into mobile roaming charges that the prices for such services are set by overseas operators and are largely out of the hands of local carriers.

AMTA Chief Executive Officer, Chris Althaus, said the one of the key findings from the House of Representatives inquiry into international mobile roaming was that the international price of roaming was set by overseas operators with Australian operators being price-takers when dealing with international partners.

“The Committee has acknowledged this fact in its final report with the recommendation that the Australian operators lack bargaining power because of our relatively small population and the impact of closed intra-regional ‘clubs’ such as the EU operators,” he said.

“The Committee recommends that the Federal Government negotiate on a government-to-government level on bilateral and multilateral agreements with other countries.”

AMTA, on behalf of its members, had in a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications argued that regulatory intervention on international mobile roaming charges would have unfairly penalised Australian operators for an issue that was outside of their control.

Mr Althaus said the mobile telecommunications industry would consider in more detail the Committee’s other recommendations, including a proposal to allow temporary mobile number portability for roaming services for Australian travellers heading overseas.

“The industry will look closely at this issue and consider if there are any technical or practical implications,” he said.

The Committee also recommended the development of minimum standards for consumer information and awareness of roaming and its costs.

Mr Althaus said the industry’s consumer tips provided travellers with a handy guide on how roaming worked and the need to closely check its potential costs. The tips can be found under Consumer Tips at www.amta.org.au