EU telecom ministers reach agreement on reducing mobile charges
28 Nov 2008
Telecom ministers of the European Union on Thursday agreed to reduce charges for mobile phone users, a move that is expected to boost competition in telecom markets.
French industry minister and secretary of state Luc Chatel said the the members have been able to reach political agreement within the council of ministers.
With the agreement the ministers have endorsed the EU executive commission's proposal to reduce charges for sending text messages and downloading data via mobile phones for consumers when they are in a foreign country in the EU.
Setting the stage for the change next year, ministers agreed to a cap of 11 euro cents for SMS messages made from abroad while in the region.
The measure comes as a part of a package of cuts aimed to reduce cost of using mobile phones when consumers are travelling within the European Union. Other measures include provisions for making operators charge customers by the second after the 31st second on calls made while abroad in the EU.
The Thursday agreement is not the final however, as there are differences remain between commission's proposals and what parliament and member states have so far endorsed.
Though the parliament and council have agreed to set up a new EU telecom regulatory body, they have watered down the commission's original proposal.They have also agreed to allow splitting of telecom operators into business units to increase competition.
According to the European Commission consumers have to pay exorbitant charges for using mobile phones while abroad. This is the second time over the year that the European Union's executive arm has moved to rationalize mobile phone charges.It had imposed a controversial cap on call charges last year.
Under the agreement cost of mobile phone call from one EU state to another will reduce from current maximum rate of 46c a minute to 34c a minute by July 2012.
The cost of receiving a call in another EU state will reduce from 22c a minute to 10c a minute in 2012.
Similarly, reductions have also been agreed on sending text messages with costs set to fall to a maximun 11c per SMS.
