STRASBOURG, France, Dec 17 (Reuters) - European Union plans
to cap the price of sending a text message or surfing the Web
using a mobile phone while abroad are broadly acceptable but
need tweaking, an EU lawmaker said on Wednesday.
EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding has proposed capping
the retail price of roamed text messages at 11 euro cents each
from July 2009 compared with around 29 cents now.
She has proposed a one euro per megabyte cap on the
wholesale price of data downloads such as using a phone or
laptop to check emails or surf the Web outside a home state in
the 27-nation EU.
Reding also wants existing price caps on roamed voice calls
to be extended by three years to 2013.
Operators say tariffs are already tumbling and the draft law
is too interventionist but consumer groups and Reding say the
industry has had long enough to bring down "exorbitant" prices.
EU states and the European Parliament have final say on the
measure and governments gave their initial green light last
month but parliament has yet to hold a vote.
Adina-Ioana Valean, a Romanian Liberal steering the bill
through the EU assembly, will propose changing the pricing of
data to per kilobyte.
And using a "safeguard price" -- rather than a blunt cap --
on data that was lower than 1 euro per megabyte Reding proposed
would put more downward pressure on tariffs, she said.
"I think it's too early to regulate this issue but I would
support putting a safeguard price on data at the wholesale
level. I will propose it is by kilobyte rather than megabyte,"
Valean told Reuters on the sidelines of a plenary meeting of
parliament.
She has yet to finalise the per kilobyte rate in her draft
version of the measure due out next month but noted that the
average price of data was around 25 cents a megabyte.
Switching to per kilobyte would ensure that small users of
roamed data don't end up paying more than volume users.
"I am resisting those who also want a retail price cap on
data," Valean said.
She backs the 11 euro cents cap on a roamed text message.
"I also support the three year extension for voice roaming.
The industry needs some predictability even if these regulations
are not the best way," Valean said.
EU states agreed there could be a cut off in data after 50
euros to avoid "bill shock" for consumers back home.
"I will try to come up with a more flexible approach with
maybe several layers that a consumer can choose. Maybe a volume
limit rather than a price limit," Valean said.
Her report will also call on the European Commission to
report back by 2010 on bringing down roaming prices by using
market mechanisms other than price caps.
Prices of roamed voice calls have tended to bunch just below
the cap, giving little incentive for industry to compete, Valean
said.
"The impact assessment presented by the Commission so far
does not have enough data, in my opinion," Valean said.
(Editing by David Cowell)
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