Europe prepares to cap costs for text and data when roaming

European telecomms commissioner Viviane Reding has confirmed that she wants to cap charges for text messages at a maximum of 9p+VAT when roaming in Europe and will force operators to bill cross-border voice calls by the second. She also aims to restrict data charges to 79p+VAT per megabyte. These proposals will be voted on by the European Parliament in spring next year and could become by summer 2009. [Sources: Mobile News; TheRegister.co.uk]