Mobile Phone Roaming Charges

EDM number 2339 in 2005-06, proposed by Mark Durkan on 08/06/2006.

That this House notes with great concern the exorbitant costs being inflicted on those living in the border areas of Northern Ireland from inadvertent mobile phone roaming charges, resulting in mobile phone users being charged at international rates; notes that those customers using pre-pay (pay-as-you-go) phones are particularly adversely affected; further notes that Ofcom estimate that 75 per cent. of all mobile users in Northern Ireland are pre-pay customers; further notes that research indicates that 43 per cent. of mobile phone customers in Northern Ireland claim to have received a signal from the Republic of Ireland while in Northern Ireland; regrets the heavy costs to business transactions on both sides of the border; further notes the positive pressure from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Irish Government Ministers for change; and urges the Government to intensify efforts to make sure that regulators and mobile phone operators tackle this problem by ensuring that all-island tariff options are in place for pre-pay and post-pay customers and that affordable, national rates are available for mobile phone users in border communities.

This motion has been signed by a total of 34 MPs.