European Commission considers SMS roaming price cap
Caps on the price of sending an SMS from a mobile phone while abroad came a
step closer Wednesday, when the European Commission launched a two-month public
consultation into its rules on mobile phone roaming charges.
Mobile phone manufacturers, network operators and consumer groups have been
invited to submit comments about the effectiveness of the regulation on roaming
charges for voice calls that came into force last year.
As well as seeking general feedback on the impact of the European Union law,
the Commission also asked
stakeholders whether regulation is necessary for data roaming services and
SMS in light of current retail prices and market developments.
The results of the consultation will influence the Commission's decision whether
or not to extend the existing roaming law to include data and SMS roaming charges.
A report published by the European Regulators Group in January showed that
on average across the E.U., users had to pay €5.24 per megabyte of data
and €0.29 for an SMS sent while roaming in the third quarter of 2007. The
Commission suspects that this is disproportionately high compared to data and
SMS prices when sent from a person's home country.
The existing roaming law requires operators to offer customers a "Eurotariff"
for voice calls when roaming in other E.U. member states, and introduced ceilings
of €0.49 per minute for making calls and €0.24 per minute for receiving
calls. These will decrease to €0.46 and €0.22 respectively on Aug.
30, and to €0.43 and €0.19 on Aug. 30, 2009.
The roaming regulation is limited to voice calls and expires on June 30, 2010
unless the European Parliament and the Council decide, on the basis of a proposal
from the European Commission, to extend it beyond this date.
IDG News Service
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