APEC telecom ministers urged to take action on high roaming costs
see also Minister's speech
The issue of high international mobile roaming rates has been elevated to the highest relevant regional forum – the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Telecommunications & Information Industry being held in Bangkok, Thailand this week.
The Ministerial meeting, the first held since a 2005 gathering in Chile, heard yesterday that while there had been some market response to prices, costs were still way too high.
The Australian Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, told APEC delegations late yesterday that there was a need for an APEC-level response on the issue.
“For individuals and small businesses, international roaming charges are the subject of growing complaints where prices are so high as to discourage the use of mobile phones by people roaming in the APEC region,” Conroy said.
“There is some evidence of market response, but prices remain high for many users. This issue deserves attention particularly as mobile data services grow and businesses come to rely even more on cross-border access.”
Conroy added: “APEC has a strong emphasis on facilitating business, so cross-border communication services should play an important part in the telecommunications sector’s contribution to the regional economic integration agenda. This is even more important as we move into a ‘next generation’ network environment, which will greatly expand the potential of specialised business services.”
High roaming charges has been bubbling as a major issue for regional telecom operators.
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