Persian Gulf - Complaints about high data roaming charges and the lack of action to reduce them

[gulf news] There are few things that really unite travellers from just about every country these days — but I think I have discovered one of them…. Sky high Data Roaming Charges.

I became really aware of this nasty business when I got a Palm Pre smartphone and gleefully gave it a run, testing its latest 3G technology on the road. In the first month my data roaming charges were more than $100 (Dh367)! By the time I acquired an iPad I discovered I would need a loan worthy of a European bank bailout to use these machines outside the UK.

The companies are aware their charges are high. Vodafone tells me that internet browsing is charged at more than $10 per megabite.

This warning is innocent enough… until you realise what 1MB means in practice and how easy it is to ratchet up the costs. To prove the point, I fired up my iPad and analysed the costs of EU roaming, using a pay-as-you go dongle.

A few quick web searches and downloading of basic e-mails cost me around $1.50. What sent the financial pain to execrable levels was launching the wonderful apps we load into our ipads, iphones and pres.

Don't even think of streaming music, watching a movie or playing online games. We are seeing the fleecing of the business traveller for data because they know we have no choice. When mobile phones were introduced, roaming charges remained sky high because it was business travellers who were the main users. In 1999 the EU first found evidence of overpricing. Today, because of EU imposed rules, the cost of roaming in the EU is now 73 per cent less than it was in 2005.

The telecoms companies quietly folded their tents and moved on… To recoup the lost revenue they shifted the hyper-charging from voice to data: And don't start me on the data roaming packages and plans. This would have continued for a few more years but for the arrival of iPhones and other smartphones. This has exposed ordinary customers to these inflated costs so the pain is being felt by a wider group.

So far, the Telecoms Sheriffs have not ridden to our rescue in any sensible way. The European Commission now has feeble measures merely requiring companies to warn users when spending reaches certain level. My clarion call is this: Just for once, lead the way!

Why are we robbed when roaming?