Mobile roamers charged up to 60 times NZ price

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The devil is in the data when using a cellphone overseas, with one carrier charging 60 times its New Zealand rate for customers travelling across the Ditch.

2degrees bills $30 per megabyte for email or mobile internet while roaming in Australia, 5900 per cent more than its local price of 50c per megabyte.

This is three times higher than Telecom's casual roaming rate of $10 per megabyte* and six times higher than Vodafone's $5 per megabyte.

Vodafone is also leading the way in terms of calling prices, setting the benchmark at 79c per minute.

Telecom charges 89c and 2degrees $1.39 per minute for calls while in Australia. All three telcos charge $1 per minute to receive calls and 80c for each text message sent.

2degrees' chief operating officer Bill McCabe argued its roaming charges reflected what it had to pay to Australian wholesalers.

He said 2degrees could not offer the same price as its competitors because it had "fewer natural partners" across the Tasman.

Despite this, the company hinted on Friday that it was close to lowering its roaming prices for both voice and data.

Last week, the Government said it would join Australian officials in an investigation into transtasman roaming services.

Communications Minister Steven Joyce said if they discovered a lack of competition in the market, regulatory intervention would be considered.

Telecommunications Users Association chief executive Paul Brislen said the data charges of all three mobile carriers were "reprehensible" and "pure greed".

"[Calls] and texts, they're expensive but okay. The problem is all with data and this differential between what you pay for it locally and what you pay for it overseas. There is no reason for it - it's purely the [overseas] network provider charging like a wounded bull."

But the problem was not just with Australian network owners. Brislen said New Zealand telcos charged equally exorbitant roaming rates to their transtasman counterparts.

Craigs Investment Partners' Geoff Zame said roaming was a "profit pool" for network owners, with Vodafone dominating the New Zealand market.

The company built its roaming base because its GSM network was compatible with overseas carriers and was the only local player offering services before the launch of Telecom's XT network in May 2009. But Telecom now says the market is competitive and Government action is not needed.

"We're not convinced of the case for regulation, given the way the market's going. The ball has been rolling downhill in terms of prices for some time, but there are ongoing issues with bill shock in some cases," said Telecom spokesman Mark Watts.

Vodafone's Hayden Glass said it would engage with any inquiry but said the market was seeing the effect of competition. Neither telco would reveal how much they made from roaming charges.

* Telecom is the only company offering roaming data packages (100MBs for $100).