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.

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]

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 Commissioner talks about Called Party Pays for Europe

EC Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding has told the Financial Times that the mobile industry should consider the USA's idea of "called party pays" to reduce wholesale termination rates, although she added that "business models are for the operators to decide". [Source: FT.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."

EU tells networks to cut roaming data costs by summer 2008

Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, has said she want to see the 'roaming' charges for text messages and data usage cut by 1st July 2008. In a discussion at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona she said "sending a text message or downloading data on a mobile phone while in another EU country should not be substantially more expensive for consumers" than doing the same on their 'home' network. [Source: Forbes.com]

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]