By Heather McLean, 5 April 2002 16:40
NEWS UK consumers are not doing enough to learn about the costs of using mobile phones abroad, according to telecoms watchdog Oftel. They need to get more call charge savvy and find out the best ways to get around the hefty roaming costs incurred by phoning or texting abroad, Oftel says. In its roaming research carried out with Irish watchdog, the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation, Oftel found most consumers were ignorant of call charges. Nearly half of UK pre-pay mobile consumers are unaware they could be charged for receiving incoming calls while abroad, at rates as high as £1.50 per minute. Less than half of roaming UK consumers attempt to reduce bill costs by switching to text messaging rather than phone calls or have considered the use of a locally bought SIM card for travellers who pay frequent visits to the same country. Over 80 per cent of roaming mobile users were found to be satisfied with paying such high phone charges while away from home.
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