krug3r
17-08-2003, 19:23
[SOURCE TIMESONLINE]
CALLERS to mobile phones have little or no idea how much they are being charged following recent changes that allow customers to switch networks while keeping their numbers.
The introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) last month has led to hidden costs and confusion. The changes mean somebody dialling a mobile number could now pay up to 27% more for a call than they expected because of different network charges.
Dermott Jewell, the chief executive of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, called for a telecom industry ombudsman to protect consumer interests.
ComReg, the telecommunications regulator, said it consulted the telecoms industry before introducing MNP and was currently considering the issue of price transparency.
Before MNP, callers could identify the mobile network they were dialling by the number’s prefix (085, 086 or 087) and could use this to calculate the price of a call.
MNP means the prefix no longer automatically denotes the network to which a customer belongs. For example, a Vodafone customer with an 087 number can now transfer to the Meteor or O2 networks and retain the 087 prefix.
MNP was introduced to make life easier for mobile customers looking to change networks, but it has caused problems for landline operators and has also confused people calling mobile numbers.
Esat BT said landline calls to mobiles would be charged on the basis of the network rather than the number. If a customer dials an 087 number, but the 087 number is a Meteor customer, the customer will pay the Meteor rate. Daytime calls to Meteor numbers are 27.5c per minute with Esat BT, while calls to Vodafone and O2 are 23.5c and 22c respectively.
Eircom said it currently charges calls to mobiles on the basis of the prefix dialled but that it would adopt a similar approach to Esat BT later in the year. Its daytime rates vary from 23c to 29.2c a minute.
CALLERS to mobile phones have little or no idea how much they are being charged following recent changes that allow customers to switch networks while keeping their numbers.
The introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) last month has led to hidden costs and confusion. The changes mean somebody dialling a mobile number could now pay up to 27% more for a call than they expected because of different network charges.
Dermott Jewell, the chief executive of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, called for a telecom industry ombudsman to protect consumer interests.
ComReg, the telecommunications regulator, said it consulted the telecoms industry before introducing MNP and was currently considering the issue of price transparency.
Before MNP, callers could identify the mobile network they were dialling by the number’s prefix (085, 086 or 087) and could use this to calculate the price of a call.
MNP means the prefix no longer automatically denotes the network to which a customer belongs. For example, a Vodafone customer with an 087 number can now transfer to the Meteor or O2 networks and retain the 087 prefix.
MNP was introduced to make life easier for mobile customers looking to change networks, but it has caused problems for landline operators and has also confused people calling mobile numbers.
Esat BT said landline calls to mobiles would be charged on the basis of the network rather than the number. If a customer dials an 087 number, but the 087 number is a Meteor customer, the customer will pay the Meteor rate. Daytime calls to Meteor numbers are 27.5c per minute with Esat BT, while calls to Vodafone and O2 are 23.5c and 22c respectively.
Eircom said it currently charges calls to mobiles on the basis of the prefix dialled but that it would adopt a similar approach to Esat BT later in the year. Its daytime rates vary from 23c to 29.2c a minute.