The European Union Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding has supported reducing the price of sending a mobile text message from one EU country to another by 16 cents.
Reding's proposal is now being distributed to all other EU Commissioners before they formally implement it in early October. The EU's 27 member states and the European Parliament must also approve the measure.
Around 2.5 billion texts are sent every year by roaming customers in the EU and cost about 10 times more than domestic texts.
Roaming texts account for 97 percent of pure revenue for operators, Reding said in July. A roaming text costs about 29 euro cents to send.
The proposal extends by three years to 2013 restrictions, which are currently in place on roaming voice calls. The voice roaming law has been a popular policy in the EU.
Reding also plans on introducing changes to billing. Instead of charging by the second she wants to charge by the 31st second of a call to prohibit operators charging by the minute for a call that lasts just a few seconds.
The billing changes will likely face resistance as a number of EU states have laws that require billing by the second from the first second.
Reding is also proposing a wholesale cap of 1 euro per MB to surf online using a mobile phone or laptop. The current price is about 3 -4 euros.
About the author:
Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews.
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That's a great idea. Last
That's a great idea. Last time I went to Ireland I came back with a $1,600 phone bill.