Coming soon: phones without borders

Published on 7 July 2011 at 13:20

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"Brussels wants to take down roaming charges", announces SME. Following a price regulation proposal introduced July 6 by the European Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes, prices for calls while abroad should cost only as much as calls at home by 2015. The prices should start to fall next year. Brussels is also proposing, for the first time ever, to regulate the cost of mobile Internet services. The price per megabyte of roaming data should be capped next year at 90 cents, falling to 50 cents by 2014. The proposal must still be approved by the European Parliament and the twenty-seven member countries of the EU. SME remains sceptical: "The real enemy of expensive roaming charges is Skype, which is free, and not the zealous Commissioners Reding and Kroes." Viviane Reding is the Commissioner who first regulated roaming rates in 2009.

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