“Vodafone’s decision to cut roaming charges within the European Union will be welcomed by consumers planning their holidays," says Mike Manzo, Openet's CMO, "especially those that have previously suffered bill shock."

But that is only part of the issue, he argues. "Today operators offer consumers very little visibility into charging and usage. Consumers don’t want nasty surprises, they want to know how much they are paying for services and what their balance is. That means that operators need to shift from the traditional post-billing model to offering real-time visibility to subscribers. Whilst no roaming charges are good news for consumers, the operators that are going to be the real consumer champions will be the ones that give their subscribers the knowledge and power to control their mobile bill.”

IS HE RIGHT?