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Feb. 7, 2008

KPN in the Netherlands, Belgian operator BASE, German operator E-Plus, Play in Poland and 3 other wireless carriers in the UK have all agreed to rate cuts of 25 euro cents per MB of data downloaded while a customer is roaming.

The rate cuts are widely understood as pre-emptive moves to avoid further regulatory pressure, such as the telecoms experienced in 2007 over roaming charges on voice calls within the EU.

On average, roaming data rates in Europe are currently 5.24 euros per MB.

The new wholesale price will be introduced on March 1st.

In January, Spanish telecom Telefónica announced plans to reduce mobile data roaming fees across its European operations by as much as 40 percent.

The five carriers participating in these rate cuts have networks covering 10 European markets and over 295 million people.

It said that starting this month, its mobile units, O2 and Movistar, will implement the changes in the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Spain and the UK.

Telefónica's rate cuts will bring the cost of sending a text message home from anywhere in the EU down to about 48 cents from the current 67 cents.

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Source: E.U. Telecom News

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