Mobile Co O2 To Announce Cuts In Roaming Charges Soon

MADRID (Dow Jones)--UK mobile operator O2 said Monday it plans to unveil cuts in the fees it charges customers when they make calls from outside their home countries, following earlier announcements along similar lines from rivals Vodafone Group and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile.

"We're putting the final touches on the plan," said a spokesman for O2, a unit of Spain's Telefonica.

The spokesman said that the cuts to so-called roaming charges should be unveiled within the next few weeks. He declined to provide an estimate for the reduction, and noted that the company already said last year it would lower the charges, when it announced its acquisition by Telefonica.

The spokesman also declined to say whether the cuts will be limited to users in Europe only.

Earlier Monday, Vodafone said it will cut roaming charges within Europe by 40% by April 2007, after the European Union warned that it might legislate on the matter.

Also Monday, T-Mobile announced a 55 pence (EUR0.80) flat rate for roaming in both Europe and the U.S., which it said for some customers could mean a price cut of up to 54%.

Despite Vodafone's move, the European Commission Monday said it aims to propose a regulation on roaming before the summer that would go into effect next year.

The commission said in April that roaming fees should be cut up to 40% because mobile phone operators are overcharging consumers. Company web site: http://www.o2.com

-By David Roman, Dow Jones Newswires, 34 913958125, david.roman@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 8th May 2006