An investigation by ZDNet UK has exposed the massive charges levied
by mobile phone operators on users who download data when abroad.Data services are increasingly being promoted by mobile phone operators; they let users connect to their corporate email and browse the Web even when they're away from a fixed Internet connection.
When used in the UK, these data services are usually covered by monthly subscriptions, but those who use data services on a pay-as-you-go basis can get a nasty surprise — and this can include contract customers when they travel abroad.
Charges of up to £20 per megabyte mean that it can cost 24p just to view Google's famously light front page over GPRS or 3G data services from abroad — and that is before users have even searched for the information they need and incurred a series of much higher charges as they navigate through destination pages.
A download of a single iTunes track could cost up to £100. One ZDNet UK reader found himself lumped with a bill for £769 for using Orange's data services in France and Germany to download around 80MB. The same usage in the UK would have cost under £10.
[? /*CMS poll(20003887) */ ?]Although Orange is the worst offender, all mobile phone networks charge disproportionately high rates for roaming.
The problem is compounded in many cases by a lack of clear information from the operators. Some users who use 3G data cards in their notebook PCs are not provided with any form of metering to tell them how much the services are costing in real time. In these cases, users will not know what they are being charged until they receive their bill, which can easily be six or seven weeks later — more than enough time for them to have run up even higher charges.
ZDNet UK asked the operators whether they would warn a user if they suddenly incurred huge costs due to using data services abroad, but at the time of posting this story none had responded.
ZDNet UK's investigation also found that...
Talkback
what do you expect from these rip off merchants - they are like banks, silent about charges until public uproar forces a change of policy and they wonder why 3g take up is slow!!
I love that the article contains the phrase 'Orange are the worst offenders' whilst the banner advert at the top of the page is for Orange's mobile office GPRS system and the inset advert is for an Orange mobile phone.
Come on ZDNet, if you are going to trade on stories like this, then you should also rwstrict the content of your advertising too, you can't morally identify this type of problem and then let the offenders advertise on your site.
re the ads around the story - you've got it the wrong way round Tom, its a marketplace so anyone can buy the space
is it not better that ZDNet accept this sort of advertisng even if its around critcal articles as opposed to brushing the opinions that dont suit their advertisers under the carpet?
I used Vodafone GPRS roaming in S Ireland. The service was awful with it disconnecting all the time. I ended up paying £ 150 for 2M of Data. Considering a voice call is approx 600Kbits a minute the charges for text and data are outrageous.
My name is Roger Steare, the Orange customer "ripped-off" whilst using my 3G card in Europe. I'm a Business Ethics Consultant - I advise companies how to do the "right thing", not just what is profitable and legal. I invite all zdnet readers to visit www.orange.com and look up the company's Business Principles, Philosophy and Values. The challenge for Orange is to justify how thier data roaming charges meet these principles both in terms of being "open and honest" and in terms of providing customers with "value". Happy to correspond with any interested parties at roger.steare@rogersteare.com.
Roger Steare. Please make sure you have copies of all Orange's current pages from the Internet if you're going down the legal route, in case Orange changes the content. I applaud you for contesting their unreasonable practices. As an older person, I am very discouraged by modern business ethics and practices where nearly anything goes as long as it is not technically illegal.
As an aside, I'm a council 'leaseholder' and have found my council, a Beacon Council,full of tricks to get more of the little money which I have. Value for money - NO WAY!
Vodafone now offer 250MB a month for £25. That's a serious amount of email/web browsing.
All they need to do is tie it up with their voice 'Passport' program, where you only pay 75p extra for any call in a Passport country and we'll be much better off. Watch the rest follow in quick succession.
What IS really dumb is that you cannot get that tarrif on a data-capable phone. I now have a free 3G card thanks to their silly tariff policy. Just badger them enough and they will submit & give you one for free!
The charges within the UK are also high for GPRS usage.
T-mobile do not include a GPRS allowance in basic contracts and for downloading some content over the course of a month (mostly music / website usage) i found myself lumbered with a £100 + bill.
Needless to say, i' swtiched down to WAP as I have been able to enable a 30min allowance for this. However it can take almost that long to download Google that way!
GPRS and 3G service charges need seriously reviewing if they are encouraging users to get downloading.
Well done for raising this issue. Even working for a leading mobile operator I have never understood the pricing of data services and was instrumental in attempting to lower charges to improve usage. This was met by stiff opposition and the rationale behind this was - we have spent a lot of money on infrastucture and we want to recover it in the short term at the expense of the customer and adoption. Ultimately this will push users to alternative wireless technologies. Let us look towards companies like Skype who's prices are transparent.
I was charged £460 by vodafone for less than 30mb of use in Spain - even though I had opted for a mobile roaming tariff which should have given me 100mb free. They admited their mistake when it was pointed out to them (after a couple of days) and credited me with £360 which was the bill amount minus the £100 monthly tariff charge(!!!). All this was after I had to buy a new datacard in Spain because the one they sold me in the UK was unsuitable - as I found out. Include in that the £65 worth of calls to their customer services and all in all it was quite an expensive little trip! Nice.
I check my bills when they come through now.
Sorry I am using Firefox, the ads are not there, but let us face it, the mobile companies give away phones, "There is no such thing as a free lunch". read the small print.
I do think, however, that come the revolution, they will be on the wall with the banks, lawyers and the politicians.
I was really pleased to see Orange identified as a roaming pirate. Some time ago they introduced a so-called 'flat rate' roaming charge for any calls made abroad. What that really meant was that they charged you close on £1 a minute even if you were only calling across the city, if you happened to be outside the UK while you were doing it. It wasn't always like that - they used to charge what the local provider charged, plus a percentage markup. The first time I realised their policy had changed was when I got stung £1 a minute for a 10 minute call in Singapore. The whole place was only as big as the Isle of Wight but I might as well have been calling America. The worst aspect was that they didn't announce it until AFTER everyone realised and started complaining. Then they did the old NatWest bank thing and started talking about "Some people charge exhorbitant fees for roaming but at Orange we just screw you for a flat rate of a £1 a minute, wherever you are...." No wonder they're coining it.
Vodafone Pay as you go is epensive. I had bourt a mobile with Infa Red, so linked it up to my PC, and just loaded one Web Page, and it cost me 2.50. That was in the UK as well!
Taken from there web site.
WAP over GPRS:Vodafone live! pages 0.1p per KB / Non live! pages 0.73p per KB Text
Do you have any info on buying a datacard in spain please? I have one for UK but will not pay extortionate roaming charges.
I was stung for a bill of £200 by Orange for using my mobile in Tenerife. My sister called me and I spent 30mins on the phone to her, not knowing that I was also being charged for HER call?? In addition to making a couple of other short calls and checking my email a few times, I had a £200 bill waiting for me at home. On complaining about the excessive charges and asking for some latitude for an honest mistake, they simply told me the bill HAD to be paid and that the matter would be taken further if it was not.
As a previous long standing customer of Orange, I would no longer touch their network with a bargepole. I am the happy owner of a 3G phone on the Three network now, and I use my old Nokia 3210 with a Spanish Amena sim card for holiday calls. All I pay is a standard charge for an international call from a Spanish mobile and ZERO for incoming calls.. I will NEVER roam on any UK sim ever again (or until these rip-off charges are outlawed). Thanks for nothing Orange, such a value service ... NOT. Not that any of the networks are any better, but it just so happens that Orange are the company that ripped me off on my holiday and the subject of my anger.
having just returned from France I was shocked to recieve a phone for from Vodafone demanding a credit card number to cover my call charges of just over £6,000 for 3 days useage whilst I was away. I explained that the unit automatically connected when I used the laptop and my download manager continued to download file that had not completed in the UK. They have offered to halve this to £3000 but this is still hugely unnacceptable. When I disputed the bill they cut off my other phones which meant that my 9 months pregnant wife couldnt contact me. They did re-instate my line after I complained but this doesnt solve the problem of stress for my wife wondering how we will pay the bill. they have now written stating that they are not prepared to do any more and have given me 14 days to pay.
Has anyone else successfully challenged this unfair practice? I am particularly challenging why there is no clear warning. If so i would love to hear from you....
rover1974: did you manage to have any success? We've just received a similar bill for £7000 - normal bill is £140!