Vodafone price rises under attack


Vodafone says it doesn't believe the changes will affect customers much


The National Consumer Council (NCC) has criticised Vodafone for increasing mobile phonecall costs without telling its customers.
Vodafone plans to raise minimum call charges by 25%.
But a letter to users does not mention prices are going up and tells customers they should not be affected much.
Part of the reason it needs to raise prices, it says, is because the European Commission has made firms cut the cost of calls made from overseas.
Headline tariffs
Vodafone is not changing its headline tariff rates but it is increasing some costs for calls that are not included in these deals.
Minimum call charges are rising by 25% and calls to 08 numbers, including 0800 and 0845, will be rising by more than 30%.
In a letter, Vodafone does not mention that prices are going up. It says it does not believe the changes will have a significant impact on its customers.
The NCC has called on mobile phone providers to make sure they are absolutely clear on prices.
Roaming limits
Last year, the Commission set limits on roaming charges for mobile phonecalls across the European Union.
At the time, mobile phone companies warned that prices of other calls may go up. In June, the Commission unveiled plans to lower the cost of mobile phone calls by reducing the fees operators charge each other for using their networks. The Commission said it was these charges that were, in part, to blame for mobile calls being more expensive than fixed-line calls in the EU.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7564787.stm