Those companies put themselves in debt for that license because that was the value of it to them then. It was an auction and it found the market value at the time. They didn’t hand over the money for fun. They may have over-valued the licenses, but they’re not answerable to you or I for their mistakes.

I don’t believe there is a roaming cartel. Mobile phone companies are hugely competitive because the market is saturated and they’re all desperate to keep their market share.

As an example, On Orange I pay £1.10 per minute from the USA to the UK on a pay-monthly tariff, no matter what network you call out on. Meanwhile, on an equivalent Vodaphone tariff I would have to use Cingular and pay £1.25 per minute for the same thing. If I want to save money there are about a gazillion calling cards to choose from.  So I do have a choice.

Yes, there is a huge mark-up on international roaming. So what? A company is perfectly at liberty to subsidise one part of its business with another. Since most people are more interested in the cost of local calls it’s obvious where the larger mark-ups will be. Removing this option through regulation will only raise the cost of local calls as phone companies will try to maintain profits.

Line rental is a marketing term used because of its familiarity. Phone companies offer a range of tariffs and not all of them have a fixed monthly component.

I’m not sure where I used the word “infrastructure”, but it does exist. There are masts, routing equipment, and indeed wires involved.

None of all that matters, by the way. Even if there was a roaming cartel, it wouldn’t matter. Cartels are just an agreement between parties, and are unstable anyway because it only takes one to break the cartel.

There is a principle at stake here: that governments should not interfere in business. Business is made up of voluntary interactions between individuals. Nobody is forcing you to give money to mobile phone companies or plumbers. You only pay a pre-agreed amount for pre-agreed services. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.

The reason I hate “tax and spend” is the tax part which involves force. Governments are all about force; the same force is used to make regulations.

If you don’t believe me, wait until someone does start making a fuss about the cost of plumbing, and see what regulations you’re forced to comply with. Invoking Niemöller is probably a bit strong, but if you don’t speak out when they go after the phone companies, you might regret it when they go after your business interests.

(For Americans reading this, we are referring to a British billion here, meaning the figure in question is £22,500,000,000,000 – quite staggering).

So Rob, you’re NOT a fan of Tax and Spend, but you’re happy to defend companies who take your money, put themselves heavily in debt, then form a cartel and massively overcharge on roaming fees?
Remember, there’s no competition here – roaming is a cartel, and one in which the clear margin is somewhere between 700% and 1000%. Surely any efficient company could reduce that margin a little?

With a plumber, you take your pick. With a mobile company, you don’t really have a roaming choice.

And please, infrastucture?? There are people who use the term “line rental”, without realising that, duh, it’s wireless!

Oh, God, I suppose I’ll spell it out.  People who stand to lose money, from the article:  “…hard working people in the telecoms industry, people who made international mobile phone calls possible in the first place”, “…people who have invested in these companies (presumably many of them retired pensioners)”; and this one, admittedly, requires a good two seconds or so of thought:  given that “This revenue will have to be made up elsewhere”, everyone who doesn’t do much international roaming.

Not that that’s even the point.  The point being:  what business is it of the EU’s?  Or to put it in a way even you might understand, what happens when the Viviane Redings of this world decide people are paying too much for their plumbers?

And this is a bad thing why? Still don’t get it!