International Mobile Roaming in Asia and the Pacific Islands
38 Pages Posted: 10 Aug 2010
Date Written: August 12, 2010
Abstract
This paper examines how issues concerning international mobile roaming have been addressed in Asia and the Pacific Islands by governments, regulators and operators. The complaints of consumers and business users have been that rates are too high, a problem accentuated by a small number of incidents of “bill shock” in which customers are invoiced for thousands of dollars. Prices have remained high, despite generally supposed competition in mobile markets (e.g., no change in Australia-New Zealand roaming rates between 2007 and 2010). Often information about prices is difficult to obtain or overly complex for customers.
Discussions in regional bodies (e.g., APEC and ASEAN) have, as yet, produced few results. The example of the European Union which regulated roaming prices is impossible to emulate, for lack of a trans-national legal basis.
Keywords: roaming, Asia, mobile, wireless
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