Cameron urges cuts in mobile phone bills
David Cameron is urging mobile phone companies to give customers a better deal as the prime minister fights to win ground in the battle over the rising cost of living. Downing Street has instructed Maria Miller and her officials in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to exact concessions from mobile phone companies, including on roaming bills, as well as on the lack of transparency in costs. The "telecom consumer action plan", originally announced in September, has been portrayed to the industry as part of a wider push to tackle inflation in the cost of basic services. But the initiative has been pushed up the political agenda Mr Cameron responds to Ed Miliband, Labour leader, who has won public support for his focus on rising energy prices and stagnant wages. The culture ministry has summoned telecoms executives to a meeting this week. The aim will be to win commitments that can feed into policy and which could potentially be revealed in a speech by the prime minister towards the end of the month. Companies summoned to the meeting include Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three. "Cameron [is] trying to regain the initiative from Labour in cost of living debate" by moving the discussion into sectors other than just energy, a telecoms executive said. Another executive with knowledge of the talks said he was worried that "we will be painted as the bad guys next". Mr Miliband has dominated the cost of living debate following his promise of a 20-month energy price freeze if Labour won the 2015 general election. Mr Cameron has denounced the policy as a "price con" but polling suggesting that the Labour leader has struck a chord with voters is worrying Conservatives. Downing Street plans to use the Autumn Statement in December to offer households concrete help with the cost of living. George Osborne, chancellor, said in September he would tackle cost of living issues, citing rail prices, bank charges and water bills as areas in his line of fire. The Treasury is also expected to help households with fuel costs by shifting energy efficiency schemes from customers’ bills and back on to general taxation. Government officials insisted that the meeting with mobile companies was not to discuss the price of phone bills but rather an attempt to tackle the unintended effects on the poorest of having a mobile phone. One telecoms executive added: "Naturally, we will make sure that the point is made that smartphones are quite expensive and that bills have broadly come down year on year." The culture ministry-led initiative comes as Ofcom, the telecoms watchdog, is also trying to enforce better practices across the industry.