Wide spread in global mobile fees

Numerous different tariffs are provided by phone operators

Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden have the cheapest mobile phone tariffs among 30 countries surveyed in a comprehensive communications report.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that Canada, Spain and the US had the highest mobile charges.

Charges for average monthly use varied between $11 (£6.70) and $53.

Mobile phone use accounted for 41% of the total revenue in the telecommunications sector, it added.

But the decline in revenue from fixed telephone lines has slowed as people use these lines to secure access to high-speed broadband internet, the report concluded.

The OECD's Communications Outlook said mobile call prices fell by 21% for low-usage customers, by 28% for medium-usage and by 32% for high-usage between 2006 and 2008.

Comparing domestic prices on a medium use of 780 phone calls, 600 short texts and eight multimedia messages, the survey found that monthly prices ranged from $11 to $53 across the 30 countries of the OECD in August 2008.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version