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However, the services were hit by patchy coverage and technical glitches. Half a decade later a study by Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, found that 85 per cent of the British population did not even know what "3G" meant. Consumer groups have now expressed concern that phone companies may try to recoup some of their losses stacked up at the height of the dot-com boom by charging high prices now.

Both the European Commission, which regulates competition between mobile phone companies, and Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, tend to be reluctant to intervene in young markets.

However, both watchdogs have told Times Online that they are eager to hear from customers who feel they have been charged unfairly high rates for downloading data while abroad. The EC said it "would not hesitate to act" if evidence of improper practices subsequently emerged. 

Customers who feel they have been charged unfairly high rates in this way can e-mail Times Online, and we will forward examples to Ofcom and the EC.

The two bodies are already investigating the prices charged to UK consumers who use their mobile phones to make voice calls outside Britain. But the EC has said that because data download services are "relatively new" there is, as yet, insufficient grounds for a full-blown investigation.

Jonathan Todd, the EC Spokesman on Competition told Times Online: "Internet connection [on mobile phones] is so far mainly a niche service for business travellers … Business travellers which are heavy users, such as multinational companies, have certain bargaining power on tariffs for data services.

"In a relatively new market which is still in the uptake stage, the principles for establishing whether particular tariff levels are abusive … would seem to be less clear-cut than for voice calls. 

"The Commission is nonetheless monitoring market developments as to data services - without opening a formal investigation or proceedings at this stage."

An Ofcom spokesman told Times Online: "Accessing data and internet services via a mobile phone is a relatively new service; indeed Ofcom's best estimate is that only around 2.5 per cent of UK operators’ revenue is generated through accessing such services in the UK.  

"Ofcom takes the issue of high prices for international roaming services seriously, and has already started work on an investigation of the wholesale market."

In the meantime, users are advised to be cautious when downloading data when abroad. Internet access has come to be a standard feature on mobiles. Users can access the net on 2.5G phones using so-called GPRS technology or on a "next-generation" 3G mobile or data card.

Orange charges £1 to £3 a megabyte for data services in the UK. But Britons abroad will be charged up to £25 a megabyte. That means that downloading only one song or two chunky e-mail attachments while abroad could cost £100.

Vodafone, the world’s biggest operator, charges £2.35 a megabyte at home for data services, but Britons abroad have to pay up to £10.28 a megabyte. Customers have also complained about an alleged lack of transparency about pricing.

Research by AT Kearney, the consultants, recently found that more than half those users with enabled phones use them to access the internet or check e-mail at least once a month but that prices remained a "continuous worry".

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