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Roaming rip-off: House of Lords weighs in
'So tell me, Mr Operator, have you been playing nicely?'

By Jo Best

Published: Friday 02 February 2007

The House of Lords is to investigate the thorny issue of roaming and is calling for opinions from the UK public on the issue.

The Lords is planning to investigate the resolution recently proposed by the EC to curb the prices operators are allowed to charge consumers when making calls abroad.

The Lords EU Committee will investigate whether costs charged by operators within the EU are excessive; whether lowering charges for roaming will lead to consumers being charged more for other services; and how the industry has performed with self-regulation within the last two years.

The Committee will be putting the EC's draft proposals under the microscope all next week. Any interested parties are asked to submit their opinions before 23 February - details on how to do so can be found here.

The Lords' first session will take place next week, with representatives of 3 and O2 giving evidence.

A number of operators, including 3 and O2, have acted to pre-empt the Commission's move to cap wholesale roaming charges, ostensibly to prevent a similar decision on retail rates.

The Lords Committee is also considering the utility of introducing a sunrise clause before any roaming caps come into force and whether any retail caps are necessary.