Vodafone CEO rejects EU call for data price cuts

Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin has said it's inappropriate for European Commissioner Viviane Reding to be threatening mobile operators with price controls if they don't cut their text message charges for 'roaming' customers abroad. He's quoted in the International Herald Tribune as saying "You do retail price regulation where the market is not functioning. But I have not seen any evidence that that is the case in the EU". EC spokesman Martin Selmayr responded "The commission sees strong indications that the market as regards international data roaming is not well functioning at the moment. Commissioner Reding trusts that Mr. Sarin and his colleagues will bring the house in order by themselves. Otherwise, the current lack of cooperation will have to be remedied by regulatory means."