Sun Herald
By DANIEL DASEY, CONSUMER REPORTER.
The sky-high cost of using an Australian mobile phone overseas has begun to fall as at least two companies offer consumers cut-price options.
And the expense of the practice - known as international roaming - is expected to fall far lower over the next five years thanks to the arrival of new technologies.
Phone users who opt to take their own phones with them when they travel and use overseas networks face enormous bills on their return.
An investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission earlier this month found that roaming prices were "very high", especially when compared with other mobile services.
However, the commission found that the most significant factor in the setting of prices was the wholesale charges set by overseas mobile networks. It was therefore unable to take action to lower prices.
"We're paying far too much," independent telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said.
But two offers appear to give consumers some price relief.
Vodafone is expected to unveil a new scale of international roaming charges early next year.
In overseas markets where the Vodafone product has been launched, phone users are charged a connection fee of somewhere between $1.60 and $2.50 and then a basic call rate. The arrangement could potentially save travellers significant amounts of money.
But critics have suggested the flag fall fee is high in cases where phone users only get though to the voicemail of the person they are dialling.
Sydney company vRoam offers international travellers another option it says cuts roaming costs by an average 40 per cent.
It leases SIM cards for overseas networks which clients insert into their own handsets.
They are then charged the same rates as a domestic phone customer in the country in which they are travelling.
vRoam rents the SIM cards for $2 a day.
Mr Budde said the arrival of wireless broadband services in the next two years would also allow mobile phone users to make international calls via the internet at a fraction of current costs.