774% difference in domestic mobile 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, at 1.9 euro cent per minute and Netherlands, the most expensive, at 14.7 euro cents per minute.

In 2011, Malta was the fourth most expensive country in the EU to make domestic mobile calls at 13.3 euro cents per minute.

The European Commission said that 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.

In September, Vice President Neelie Kroes will present a new package aimed at strengthening the Telecoms single market.