Reding sets SMS cuts

EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding has said she wanted to see roaming fees for text messages fall by up to 70 per cent. The decision to clamp down on data will come as no surprise to the carriers. Reding said earlier in the year that she would turn her attention towards data having forced roaming voice rates down by 60 per cent last year.

She said she will put forward rules in October to cap charges. “We are punishing our young students, our young travellers, and that is completely unfair,” Reding said.

On average in the EU, sending a text while travelling abroad costs 29 euro cents per message, but that can climb to as high as 80 euro cents in certain countries.

Europeans travelling outside their home nations send 2.5 billion text messages every year – paying 10 times more than they do at home.

Telecom regulators from the EU’s 27 nations want to see that fall into a range of 11 to 15 euro cents for each message.