Gulf states aim to cut mobile phone roaming charges by at least 50 per cent within the region by February 1, a GCC official said yesterday.

Telecoms operators attending a meeting in Riyadh earlier this month committed themselves to applying lower retail prices, Abdullah Al Shibli, GCC assistant secretary-general for economic affairs, was quoted as saying in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

It did not name the mobile firms at the meeting but said it studied a decision 'to reduce rates of international roaming between the GCC countries by more than 50 per cent from current prices'.