Brussels, Sept. 23 (EFE) .- The Commission European Commission (EC) today proposed lowering of 29 cents on average to 11 cents (excluding VAT), the price of mobile short messages (SMS) sent from abroad and lower the use of mobile browsing Internet from other countries since July 2009.
As explained in a press conference European Commissioner for Information Society, Viviane Reding, and the head of Consumer Protection, Meglena Kuneva, Brussels plans represent a price reduction of 60%.
The EU executive proposed a ceiling of 11 euro cents (excluding VAT) per message sent while roaming (roaming) for consumers and a ceiling of 4 cents as a wholesale rate (which operators charge each other for clients that send messages between their networks.)
Reding said "no justification" for the "high price" applied by operators, ten times higher than national rates, "to which the actual cost per SMS sent from abroad are supposed to" less than a penny euro. "
The commissioner has already warned last July that he would propose legislation to require operators to cut prices, to have no effect given the recommendations a year ago for diminishing rates of these services voluntarily.
as it did with its proposal for cheaper voice calls made and received abroad, the Commission does not set a price, but to offer up that operators should not exceed the time they are encouraged to "compete below" that limit.
The European Regulators Group (ERG, its acronym in English), created in 2003 to monitor the operating companies in each country, the EC recommended to impose a maximum of between 11 and 15 euro cents per message sent.
The Commission has also proposed measures to improve transparency in Internet browsing and downloading of data using phones abroad.
Brussels wants to lower the wholesale prices of the current average of € 2 per megabyte to one euro, to also reduce the average price of 5.40 euros that users must pay per megabyte.
Reding recalled that the rates paid by consumers vary from 0.25 to 16 euros per megabyte between EU countries.
Furthermore, the EC claims that consumers receive an automatic message with data roaming the country they have traveled, and from summer 2010 to specify in advance the maximum amount of your bill over the which cut off service to avoid being charged "exorbitant."
hopes that this measure will benefit 37 million tourists and 110 million business travelers, and estimated that the new law could create a "huge growth" of text messaging services and data.
Young will be one of the most affluent, with 38 percent of people between 15 and 24 prefer to send SMS instead of calling when in another country.
"We understand that a lower roaming charges can be beneficial to all parties," said Reding.
Meanwhile, Kuneva stressed that the Commission intends to expand three years until 2013, the regulation calls made and received abroad (voice roaming). The
Commission has already reduced by 60 percent in 2007, the price of these calls, which currently cost 46 and 20 cents respectively, but their goal is to continue down to stand at 34 cents for those made and 10 cents for calls received in July 2012.
also hopes that consumers will benefit from per-second billing after the first half minute for calls made while roaming, and per-second billing on calls received, and today they pay 24 percent and 19 more respectively than the time actually used.
The proposals must now be reviewed and approved by EU governments and the European Parliament before they can become binding legislation.
Via: www.finanzas.com
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