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774% difference in phone call prices across
the EU
Mobile users across the European Union face
huge price differences for the same services.
The biggest price difference is in domestic
mobile calls – a 774% difference between Lithuania, the cheapest country, and
Netherlands, the most expensive.
These price differences cannot be explained by
differences in quality, differences in the cost to provide the service, or by
differences between countries in consumer purchasing power.
European Commission Vice President Neelie
Kroes said:
"As these numbers clearly show, the 28
national telecoms markets in Europe today are not benefitting consumers like a
single market would.
It is critical for the whole EU to move
quickly to build a real single market to achieve a truly connected continent."
There are much smaller price differentials in
other categories of basic goods and services in the European single market.
For example a litre of milk can be bought for
between €0.69 and €0.99 wherever they are in the EU, a price difference of 43%.
An occasional purchase like an iPad is subject
to only an 11% price difference across the EU.
The EU is a single market.
So why do call costs vary so much?
In September, Vice President Neelie Kroes will
present a new package aimed at strengthening the Telecoms single market.