EU lawmaker favors opt-in cellular cap - Yahoo! News

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BRUSSELS, Belgium -
European Union' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> European Union legislation creating a compulsory cap on mobile phone roaming charges would lead to a sudden massive drop in network providers' revenues that could cause share prices to plummet, a key EU lawmaker said Tuesday.
Austrian Christian Democrat Paul Ruebig, who is charged with steering the proposed regulation through the European Parliament, said he was in favor of letting consumers decide whether they want to be charged a capped EU-wide tariff for calls made abroad. They also could opt to keep their existing packages with high roaming fees but lower charges on national calls.
Ruebig said an obligatory price ceiling would disrupt mobile phone companies' delicate pricing structures and lead to massive administrative costs because providers would have to restructure the packages they offer to clients — which could lead to the price of domestic calls rising to compensate for the loss of revenue from roaming.
The assembly is preparing for a showdown between center-right and center-left deputies in a May vote on a proposed price ceiling on roaming fees — one of the most lobbied pieces of EU legislation in recent years. EU governments are to decide on it in June, in time for the European summer holiday season.
The EU executive is asking them to support its plan for a compulsory upper limit for how much phone companies can charge customers who use their phones abroad, claiming network providers are reaping massive profits from unjustifiably high roaming charges that can increase call costs fourfold.
A 4-minute call home for a Cypriot in Belgium, for instance, can cost 12 euros ($15.95) and for an Irish visitor in Malta as much as 13.16 euros ($17.49).
The commission wants to cut the cost of mobile phone calls for cross-border travelers by up to 70 percent.
Ruebig said some companies already offer a better deal for roaming than the proposed EU-wide ceiling, set by the
European Commission' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> European Commission, the EU executive, at 50 euro cents ($0.66) per minute for an outgoing call and 25 euro cents ($0.33) per minute for an incoming call.
But Ruebig's argument was rejected by center-left lawmakers and consumer protection organizations, who are in favor of an obligatory tariff cap.
"I can see the point of view of industry — some companies have invested lots of money to put customers on a certain tariff. But we really need to see the interest of the consumer," said Maltese Socialist lawmaker Joseph Muscat.
The EU executive also wants mobile phone companies to give personalized information to customers on what they will be charged if they take their phone abroad to receive or make calls or text messages — a measure supported by Ruebig.