Roaming charges are simply a reality of mobile phone use for travellers. While many business customers still find roaming charges too high, according to iPass Inc.'s recent quarterly Mobile Workforce Report, the overall trend seems to be moving toward lower roaming charges, practically across the globe.

The GSMA has found that the staggering market growth in mobile over the last couple of years means that more people are travelling with smartphones and as such many operators are competing on this front. Operators also must compete with substitutes such as Wi-Fi access, which many mobile customers turn to while abroad.

As such, the GSMA (News - Alert) says that the global roaming market is now undergoing strong price declines across all services, along with widespread tariff innovation.

Indeed, operators in all regions have driven retail tariff prices down across all services, with declines topping out at 82 percent since 2007, in some cases. Another positive trend that has popped up recently is that of roaming alliances — Asia Pacific Mobile Alliance, Bridge Mobile Alliance (News - Alert), Starmap Mobile Alliance, Roaming Alianza Alliance — along with partner network roaming agreements, providing consumers with discounts up to 90 percent in some cases, compared to standard tariffs.

Similarly, operators with large geographical footprints have decreased roaming rates to levels comparable to domestic tariffs. The Zain “One Network (News - Alert),” for example, offers roaming rates equal to local rates across 21 countries in Africa in the Middle East. Other operators in the area have followed suit, hoping to stop users from simply switching to a local SIM card while travelling.

While these factors are coming together to paint a positive picture for the future of mobile roaming, there is still a long way to go, but as competition rises, more operators are going to have to start following suit.

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. The organization recently announced the details of the 2013 GSMA Mobile World Congress, to be held at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona. The theme for the event is to be “The New Mobile Horizon.”

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