The EU is set to impose even tougher restrictions on the prices mobile phone operators can charge for cross-border roaming within member countries.
EU Telecoms Commissioner, Viviane Reding, has proposed widening the scope of existing price caps on mobile phone calls made outside a home state in the 27-nation bloc to include roamed text messages and surfing the internet using a handset.
Many networks have already reduced the cost of text and data roaming charges in an effort to head-off EU price caps. However, these efforts have not been considered enough, while the longevity of such cuts have also been brought into question.
The bloc's telecom ministers are set to give the green light to the measure that also extends by three years to 2013 existing price caps on roamed voice calls. Reding said last week she expects "strong agreement" on the measure.
The European Parliament, which has a joint say on the legislation that is expected to take effect 1 July 2009, is also expected to give its backing to the plan.
Reding has proposed a retail price cap of 11 euro cents per roamed text compared with the current EU average of 29 cents.
Ministers are also expected to back her proposal for billing of roamed voice calls per second from the 31st second to crackdown on operators that charge by the minute only.
Reding also proposed a wholesale cap of 1 euro per megabyte on roamed data but some governments want a lower cap. Ministers may agree a new provision to stop "bill shock" for data roaming services such as a cutoff or warning after 50 euros.
Most UK mobile networks charge their customers between 1.50 and 3 per MB when roaming in other EU countries. Prices for roaming outside the EU can be as high as 15 per MB.
Operators say consumers could ultimately be hit.
"It is important to look beyond this new extension in order to get out of this cycle of price regulation that tries to target just a piece of the market and which gradually makes investments in new networks less compelling," a spokesman for Orange-France Telecom in Brussels said.
-
Enterprises face delicate balancing act with data center sustainability goalsNews High energy consumption, raw material requirements, and physical space constraints are holding back data center sustainability efforts, according to new research from Seagate.
-
Cleo attack victim list grows as Hertz confirms customer data stolenNews Hertz has confirmed it suffered a data breach as a result of the Cleo zero-day vulnerability in late 2024, with the car rental giant warning that customer data was stolen.
-
Which is the best UK network for data roaming in the EU?Best And how will Brexit affect your data roaming in Europe?
-
EU centralises European open data through one portalNews Open Data Portal will enable public sector bodies to share information
-
Capgemini to build €8m EU Big Data portalNews European Commission’s Big Data platform will pull in open datasets from 39 European countries
-
European Commission embarks on EU-wide broadband deployment pushNews European Commission unveils "Connected Communities" scheme to improve EU-wide broadband availability
-
Europe signs 5G development deal with South KoreaNews European Commission to team up with South Korea to boost standardisation around next-gen network
-
European Commission demands UHF use reforms for internet users
News Neelie Kroes wants telcos and mobile operators to suggest how Ultra High Frequency spectrum can be used to deliver internet services.
-
Hack prompts European Parliament to shut down public Wi-FiNews Man-in-the-middle attack detected at EU legislative body.
-
Joining the dots in European broadbandIn-depth The EC has mapped broadband coverage across the continent. Unsurprisingly Scandinavia and the Benelux does well, but so does much of the UK.
