Sending a text or having mobile Internet access while traveling from one European to another can be an expensive business – far too expensive, according to EU Commissioner Viviane Reding. She’s told mobile operators throughout Europe to cut their charges before summer, or the EU will step in with regulations forcing a price reduction, the BBC has reported. "Sending text messages or downloading other data via a mobile phone while in another EU country should not be substantially more expensive for a consumer than sending text messages or downloading data at home," Reding said. "If the industry does what it claims it can do, bringing prices down to normal, then of course, regulation will not be necessary." At present, sending a text while abroad can cost up to 95 cents, and 1MB of data up to $8.22. Reding said in no uncertain terms that she expects “credible reductions” that would leave text prices at no more than four cents above domestic levels. With 200 billion texts sent annually in Western Europe, that will involve a lot of money. The EU commissioner has had run-ins with mobile operators before. Last year the EU accepted her recommendations forcing operators to cut European roaming charges, on average by 50%.
