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GSMA Launches Data Roaming Costs Transparency Initiative
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The GSMA has launched an initiative that will provide consumers greater visibility of their roaming charges and usage of mobile data services when travelling abroad.
At a meeting held this week in Shanghai, 24 operator groups agreed to undertake a number of measures which will help mobile subscribers better understand their data roaming charges and more effectively manage their use of data services.
"A number of our operator members are already implementing sound transparency practices, benefitting more than a billion subscribers worldwide," said Franco Bernabe, Chairman of the GSMA and Chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia Group. "The initiative announced today will help to promote an even broader adoption of principles that will offer a more transparent and uniform experience for billions of consumers, wherever they travel."
The proposals include:
- Sending text messages to remind customers of their data roaming tariffs when they arrive in another country and turn on their mobile device;
- Implementing a monthly data roaming spending limit to help consumers manage their roaming bill and sending alerts when their data usage approaches the limit; and
- Temporarily suspending data service when usage exceeds the spending limit.
In the first phase of this initiative, these operators and their group subsidiaries have agreed to implement these data roaming transparency measures by the end of 2012, covering more than 4 billion mobile connections worldwide. The GSMA will also work to promote the adoption of these guidelines across its full membership base of nearly 800 mobile operators globally.
The list of initially participating operators is:
- America Movil
- AT&T
- Axiata Group Berhad
- Bharti Airtel
- China Mobile
- China Unicom
- Deutsche Telekom
- France Telecom-Orange
- Hutchison 3 Group
- KT Corporation
- MTS
- Qtel
- SK Telecom
- Smart Communications
- SoftBank Mobile
- Tata Teleservices Limited
- Telecom Italia Group
- Telefonica
- Telekom Austria Group
- Telenor Group
- TeliaSonera
- Verizon Communications
- VimpelCom
- Vodafone Group
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