itsmy.com mobile users need help on the street

Publicity-seeking mobile social networking site itsmy.com says it wants to protect its users on the street - and it's therefore submitted the concept for a new "Watch out I'm an itsmy.com user not paying attention" road sign to the European Union. It says a survey of its users revealed that 64% had already bumped into someone else or fallen over something while surfing the mobile internet and walking. Of course, the signs will need to be fixed above head height... [Press release]

EC issues Mobile TV guidelines

The European Commission has published a set of guidelines to help the launch of Mobile Television services across Europe. It says regulators and governments should consider the quality of service when awarding licences and it recommends that non-proprietary technology is used so that DVB-H based Mobile TV services can work in every EU country. [Press release]

EC moves closer to capping 'roaming' SMS charges

As anticipated, the Council of EU Telecoms Ministers has endorsed the European Commission's plans to reduce consumer charges for sending text messages and downloading data via mobile phones while 'roaming' abroad in the EU. If the plans (known as the Roaming II Agreement) are passed by the European Parliament in spring they could become law next summer. The EC's proposal includes:

• capping the cost of sending a text message at 11 Euro cents (excluding VAT),
• automatically sending an text message explaining the charges when you travel abroad,
• offering a pre-set limit for roamed data charges from 2010,
• further reducing the cost of 'roaming' voice calls in 2009 and 2010,
• introducing per-second billing after 30 seconds for all calls made, and
• introducing per-second billing for all calls received.

[Press release 1; Press release 2]

EC decision on data roaming charges expected soon

The EC's plans for a cap on European data 'roaming' charges are expected to be agreed tomorrow, according to the International Herald Tribune. It says cross-border text message charges could to drop to 11 Euro cents (about 10.6p incl. VAT) from July 2009 - and there could be a similarly dramatic drop in data usage, too.

EC plans mobile TV action soon

In an interview with EurActiv.com, European Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding has said the EC will soon 'fix the rules' for mobile television in Europe.

Austrian mobile networks criticise EU roaming caps

Mobilkom Austria, T-Mobile Austria and Orange (Austria) have published research that shows the EC's capping of 'roaming' costs has led to significant losses and no significant increase in usage. They say the roaming regulation is having a negative effect on Austria's mobile industry. [Sources: Telecoms.com; TradingMarkets.com]

Europeans are ditching fixed-line phones for mobiles

A European Commission study says about a quarter of homes in the EU have a mobile phone but no fixed-line connection. There's a higher proportion in Eastern Europe: 39% of households are mobile-only, compared to a fifth of homes in Western Europe - although in Finland, 61% of households only have mobiles. The report also says last year there were nearly 112 handsets for every 100 European residents. A report a couple of weeks ago put the US number of mobile-only households at 17%. [Source: Cellular-News.com]

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]

GSM Association responds to EU SMS statement

The GSM Association isn't happy with the European Commission's plans to cap SMS charges when roaming. It says the average price of text roaming fell by 18% last year, with the proposed regulations threatening to choke growth and stifle competition. [Press release]

EU investigates ringtone providers

The European Union's crackdown on ringtone providers really does affect as many UK companies as the Sunday Times had previously suggested. In the UK, 39 out of the 43 websites checked need further investigation. Overall, of the 500 websites visited in 27 countries, 80% need further investigation for suspected breaches of EU consumer rules. The EU said almost 50% of all the sites checked had irregularities about price; over 70% were lacking contact information and over 60% of websites checked were misleading. All offending websites will be contacted by their national regulator; a follow-up report is expected in 2009. [Press release; FAQ]

EU proposes roaming SMS caps and looks at data costs

The European Commission says the 2.5 billion text messages sent every year by roaming customers in the EU cost over 10 times more than they would have done at home. It's not happy with recent responses from networks and is therefore proposing cuts to the cost of SMS messages sent when abroad. It's also looking to find a solution to excessively high bills from mobile internet usage when roaming. The new measures are expected to be published in the autumn and could become law within 12 months. A price cap of between €0.11 and €0.15 per SMS (about 14p inc. VAT) is being talked about. The Commission has also launched a roaming website to explain the prices currently charged to consumers who use their mobile phone for sending texts or surfing the web in the EU. [Press release]

European parliament disagrees with EC telecoms super-regulator

The Industry, Research and Energy Committee of the European Parliament, along with the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, have voted on the European Commission's proposals to reform the EU Telecom rules. They've voted to create a new organisation that'll see independent telecoms regulators working together - instead of supporting the European Commission's plans for a so-called super-regulator. Although this isn't the final part of the process, the European Parliament is likely to follow their recommendations later this year. The new group will be known as the Body of European Regulators for Telecommunications, or 'BERT'. [EU press release; European Parliament press release]

Europeans are ditching their landlines

A survey from the European Commission has shown that 24% of EU households have given up their fixed telephone in favour of mobile phones, while 22% are using their computer from home to make 'VoIP' phone calls over the internet. [Press release]

EC looks at mobile call termination rates

The European Commission has started a consultation about call termination rates on moble networks. It's not happy with the difference in charges between EU countries - from 2 Euro cents (€0.02) per minute to over 18 Euro cents per minute - and the difference between fixed-line and mobile termination rates. Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding has said she expects mobile termination costs to fall by around 70% over the next three years. [Sources: Press release; BBC News]

EC warns about roaming SMS regulation

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding has said she'll regulate the cost of sending text messages when 'roaming' on other European networks if the networks themselves don't cut costs by July. She also acknowledged that her plans for a 'super-regulator' in Europe were unpopular, saying she would not proceed with them. [Sources: Press Association via Google; Reuters]

Roamers outside Europe paying more for calls

The introduction of the European Commission's cap on roaming call charges last year has led to increasing costs for other calls made abroad. That's the opinion of analysts at Informa Telecoms & Media. They say European mobile operators have raised the price of making 'roamed' calls from other countries into the European Union by as much as 163% over the last couple of years. 15% of EU customers making 'roamed' calls are travelling outside the EU. [Source: Telecoms.com]

EU to publish roaming data charge comparison

The EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding says she plans to publish the 'roaming' charges for text messages and data services online, with regulations planned for the end of this year if the charges aren't acceptable. She says the price of a text message sent while outside your home country should be no more than 0.12 Euro (about 10p plus VAT). [Source: IHT.com]

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."

Data charges cut in Europe

Three European mobile operators - 3, KPN and Play - have said they'll cut their roaming charge for data usage to 25 Euro cents per MB from 1 March 2008. They're responsible for five brands in a total of 10 countries (KPN in the Netherlands, BASE in Belgium, E-Plus in Germany, Play in Poland and 3 in Britain, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Sweden and Denmark), which covers over 295 million customers (around 60% of the EU). Meanwhile, Vodafone said it's preparing to cut its costs later this year. The cuts follow comments by EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding, who'd said she wanted to see text and data charges reduced this year. [Sources: TheRegister.co.uk, Guardian.co.uk, Reuters.co.uk]

House of Lords committee rejects plans for new EU Telecoms regulator

The House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union has said that existing EU legislation for telecommunications appears to work - and is not persuaded that the European Commission's proposal to establish an EU regulator for the telecommunications sector is necessary. [Select Committee report]