The Consumer Council of Fiji is urging the key mobile phone players in the country to provide adequate information on roaming charges to the consumers in order for them to make informed choices.
A closer look at the roaming charges offered by the service providers points out that information on international roaming charges are unclear and some ordinary consumers face difficulty in understanding this service.
The Council often receives queries from mobile phone users who are travelling abroad, regarding the cost and lack of clear information on international roaming charges.
It is quite evident that the terms and conditions, definitions and crucial information are not provided in a way that can be easily compared so that consumers can make an informed decision.
For instance, Vodafone Fiji , one of the leading players in the country’s mobile telecommunication industry, has a large Excel sheet outlining charges for the countries from A to Z and for each country, there may be more than one roaming network and consequently different charges. For example, for Australia, there are three different networks (Optus, Telstra, Vodafone) charging $6.25, $6.55 and $4.95 respectively.
Not all consumers have access to internet or are tech-savvy to find this piece of information thus they are unable to use that service. Frustrated consumers are then left to call the customer care line and join the queue to be served — with Vodafone’s 123 customer care line, they also end up paying to seek the information. Those who have access to Internet use their data to email Vodafone to get clarification — all this only frustrates consumers and diminishes consumer-confidence in the marketplace.
Digicel, another player, has a simpler system whereby they use flat rates and more succinct information that is less confusing and easier to understand. Digicel has grouped countries into four zones and applied a flat charge on each zone.
The Council is also expressing concern over what it describes as ridiculously high charges that consumers accessing this service have to pay — for instance, Vodafone Australia charges customers A$1.50/min or F$2.51 for calls from Fiji (to Australia), while Vodafone Fiji charges F$4.95/min for calls from Australia (to Fiji) on Vodafone Australia network. This is nearly 100 per cent more!
The same can be said for Digicel Fiji where a call to Fiji costs $3.95/min, but an Australia Vodafone customer calling Australia pays 59 per cent less than this charge.
The Council would like to see mobile phone operators exercise good faith and provide consumers with the necessary information so that consumers can choose the best roaming service scheme.
