The EU commission has today highlighted the excessive charges that mobile phone networks make when using a mobile phone abroad. The report confirms that mobile roaming charges are to be brought into line with domestic call costs and also provides consumers with simple alternatives to paying these excessive rates, including using a global or foreign SIM card whilst abroad.

The report says that consumers find it hard to identify the true costs and intends to apply pressure on the national networks to establish more reasonable pricing although this may take more than 18 months to conclude. Currently users can be charged in excess of £2.00 p/min to make a call and also pay to receive calls. It also recommends buying a local SIM card to benefit from lower cost international call charges and free incoming calls.

A UK based company 0044 Limited has also been advocating the use of foreign and global pay-as-you-go SIM cards to avoid roaming charges. It sells a range of foreign and global SIM cards on-line at www.0044.co.uk and claims the savings can be as much as 80%.

“We’ve been helping consumers avoid these excessive roaming charges for several years now, but the whole issue is only now getting the exposure it deserves thanks to pressure from the EU commission. Like many of the best ideas, our service is simple. By purchasing a foreign SIM card on-line before you leave you can save yourself the time and hassle factor of buying one locally, as well as a significant amount of money in the process”.