SMS roaming rates: Expect EC to force cuts

European mobile operators should brace themselves for enforced price cuts for SMS roaming, predicts an analyst.

Yesterday was the 1 July deadline set by European telecoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, for the mobile industry to voluntarily reduce the price of data roaming and sending text messages when abroad in the EU.

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And while operators have made some moves to reduce the costs of data roaming, they have failed to make voluntary price cuts for text messages, according to analyst Informa Telecoms & Media.

Despite what Informa dubs a 'last-minute flurry of tariff changes' from operators, it says in a research report that text prices for EU roamers are up to 75 per cent higher than in 2006.

By comparison, data roaming costs fell 20 per cent on average over the same period. The analyst said the downward trend for data is continuing as more operators launch bundled and day-rate packages.

Angela Stainthorpe, research analyst and author of the report Global Mobile Roaming: Operator Strategies and Market Trends, said in a statement: "Considering the impetus behind the voice legislation introduced last year, SMS roaming is without doubt a strong candidate for another round of regulation."

Stainthorpe said operators have decided cutting SMS roaming rates is not in their short term financial interest as it generates sizeable revenues. But it's early days for mobile broadband roaming, by contrast, and operators need to cut prices to drive usage.

The analyst predicts non-messaging data roaming revenues within the EU will more than double between 2008 and 2013, reaching €1.1bn by the end of the period.