EU slashes mobile phone charges

By Nic Fildes

Viviane Reding, the European Union telecoms commissioner, has been fighting to bring down roaming costs since 2007 despite fierce opposition from mobile phone operators that argue that prices have declined below the capped rates due to competition, not regulation.

The price of speaking on a phone while overseas was reduced by regulators last summer and the new agreement will see the price of texting while abroad as well as using a laptop to connect to the internet overseas slashed.

EU to slash the cost of text messaging while abroadThe cost of sending a text abroad will be capped at 11 cents, about 10p, from July equating to a fifth of the current average rate. The cost of downloading a megabyte of information over the internet will be capped at one euro (about 92p) falling to 50 cents by 2011. The EU also agreed further cuts to the cost of making and receiving a call when overseas.

Mobile phone companies had braced themselves for cuts of this magnitude and argued that data and text roaming only contributes a small portion of overall roaming revenue. However with roaming revenue already under increasing pressure as cash-strapped mobile phone customers cancel international holidays, further regulation of tariffs added to the industry's frustration.

Yet Ms Reding is set to wage a new battle against the mobile industry by arguing that all customers should be able to switch telecoms provider, whether mobile or fixed, within one day. It takes around two days to switch mobile phone companies in the UK and longer for fixed-line customers due to technical reasons.