By James Wanless
President and COO of Talkster

For a long time business users who travel frequently have been enduring the price of high roaming charges. A recent vote by the European parliament could finally mean this inflated pricing will come to an end. This week the parliament decided on roaming caps for both wholesale rates between operators (what the mobile carriers can charge each other for users who roam onto their networks) and retail caps (what those carriers can charge to their end customers).

The maximum wholesale rate will be €0.30 (approx $0.41). This rate will drop by 2 cents per year for 3 years.

The maximum retail rate will be €0.49 ($0.66) for calls made and €0.24 ($0.33) for calls received. These caps will fall too. Calls made will fall by 3 cents per year and incoming calls will fall by 2 cents after the first year and 3 cents after the second year.

To add a little intrigue to the whole process, consumers will not be automatically opted-in for these new rates for the first 3-months. After that 3-month period, they will automatically be switched over to the new tariffs whether they request it or not.

This makes absolutely no sense. Why would someone NOT want cheaper rates for the same phone calls? It seems that politics and lobbying play a role in all of these decisions.

For the operators it means that the all important summer holiday season in Europe will still offer one last chance to cream some profit before the caps come into effect.

Note that this vote is not yet legislation but it will be put in front of the EU parliament later this month for final approval and is expected to pass. Even after it passes, it will not likely be implemented until the end of the summer and even then there will be 3 more months before everyone gets the lower rates.

Seems clear? Not really. Tariffs will still exist where there will be a difference in the cost of calls made to various destinations. For example, if I am a UK user roaming in Spain, and I call back to the UK, will the cost be the same as if I make a call in Spain? The intention was that the cost of the call in Spain (the roaming country) would be cheaper than the cost of the call home. Unfortunately, we will have to wait to see the actual tariffs. I will be reporting back on that one when the operators have had a chance to craft their new plans based on these imposed caps.

technorati tags: Talkster wireless VoIP VoIM Wanless
del.ico.us tags: Talkster wireless VoIP VoIM Wanless
icerocket tags: Talkster wireless VoIP VoIM Wanless

digg it

It’s always nice to be recognized for your effort and especially so when it’s a well respected organization like TMC. Talkster was selected from hundreds of entries to be a recipient of the seventh annual Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award. I am especially proud of the whole Talkster team who have worked so hard to take us to where are today. I can’t single any one person out for the thanks and praise as it truly is a team effort. “With this award Talkster has been recognized for our innovative technology in the mobile VoIP and Voice over Instant Messaging space with the judges recognizing the future potential of contact presence as well as the ability to use our VoIP network for long distance and roaming cost savings that works in a truly global fashion, We are happy for the recognition of the innovation which is just the tip of the iceberg here. 2007 is going to be the year when all of the hard work is going to be made public. While awards are nice to have, true satisfaction will come from seeing our partners offer innovation to their customers and bring new revenue to their bottom line using Talkster technology as part of their offering and an ever increasing number of direct Talkster customers from around the world realizing the Talkster advantage.

Well done team! Keep it up. Your hard work is appreciated and worthwhile.