Serentschy makes clear that regulatory authority has no influence on how prices are set

Press release dated 4 February 2011

“Recently we have received many enquiries from irate customers concerning base rate hikes for mobile telecommunications. The reason for the price increase is, according to the operators, the regulatory authority’s ordinance requiring the same charges for 05 number calls as for calls to fixed-network numbers,” Georg Serentschy, Managing Director of RTR’s Telecommunications and Postal Services Division, announced, speaking of the irritation expressed by many customers. He then went on to clarify: “Mobile service providers basically enjoy complete freedom in setting prices. The ordinance we issued in October 2010 was intended to create transparency, and it certainly does not order any rate increase. In recent years we received numerous enquiries and complaints about the lack of cost transparency in the case of calls to 05 numbers. Setting forth requirements within the framework of an ordinance was the only way to introduce a change in this regard, because a number of operators were not prepared to do so of themselves.”

Other operators, in contrast, not only abstained from increasing the base rates charged for including calls to 05 numbers, they had also offered rates in the past which included calls to 05 subscribers.

“Whatever the case, we recommend all customers affected to request from their operators detailed information concerning the rights to which they are specifically entitled as a result of the price changes mentioned above,” Serentschy stated in conclusion.  

The second amendment to the Communications Parameters, Fees and Value-Added Services Ordinance (KEM-V), which contains the requirements applying to calls to 05 numbers and other regulations, has been published in German on the RTR website at http://www.rtr.at/de/tk/KEMV.