Further reduction of the "Eurotariff": Decreased mobile telephony costs throughout the EU

Press release dated 2 September 2008

As of August 30, 2008, mobile service providers throughout the European Union were required by an EU regulation to reduce their roaming rates once again for calls within EU member states. "The 'Eurotariff' for outgoing calls is now 55 euro cents per minute for incoming calls and 26 euro cents per minute for outgoing calls. These rates only apply to voice telephony," comments Georg Serentschy, managing director of RTR's Telecommunications Division. "All of the mobile service providers in Austria reduced their rates in line with the requirements of the EU regulation. One especially positive step was taken by the operator Hutchison 3G [brand name '3'], which voluntarily set its rates below the new limits, at 42 cents for outgoing calls and 23 cents for incoming calls."

Data services exempt from regulation

However, the Eurotariff does not apply to SMS, MMS or other data services (e.g., Internet access). "The costs of mobile Internet access can be considerable, and people often run up unexpectedly high telephone bills. Here it is important to understand that the monthly data volumes included in service contracts generally do not apply to roaming access. Before going abroad, people should certainly obtain information from their mobile service providers on the fees charged for these services and think carefully about what their planned Internet usage will cost," notes Serentschy.

For more information on the Eurotariff, please refer to the RTR web site.