Euro data roaming rules limited to wholesale

Days after instructing delegates at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that operators must impose caps on data roaming charges by July 1, EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding told the European Parliament Thursday that any mandatory regulatory intervention will be limited to the wholesale level. "One should not go for a consumer price directive but one should stay at the level of wholesale prices," Reding told Parliament.

On Monday, Reding told attendees in Barcelona "I have no appetite at all for regulating again. But to avoid regulation, the industry will have to show its responsiveness to consumer concerns." Operators including Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and KPN already have announced data-roaming cuts in their data roaming prices in an effort to avoid Reding's wrath, although Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin dismissed her calls for a cap, arguing "In a competitive industry, I do not think it is appropriate for a regulator to be talking about retail price regulation."

Reding said she would analyze current data roaming prices on July 1 to determine whether or not to intervene. "The moment Parliament asks me to put a regulation on the table, I will be ready to do it," she added.

For more on the data-roaming controversy:
- read this Mobile News article

Related articles:
European operators slash data roaming changes Report 
Call for EU to slash data roaming costs Report
EU Launches inquiry into mobile data roaming fees Report