After the go-ahead by MEPs, the Council of Ministers yesterday approved - without a hitch - the proposal to set a ceiling on the cost of SMS messages sent from one EU country to another (excluding VAT), to a maximum of 11 eurocents.
The new cost, to be applied from July 1, will bring advantages to European holidaymakers, who will benefit from reductions of up to 60 per cent.
Maltese customers will surely be among the most to benefit from this reduction as until recently, data roaming prices charged by networks are among the highest in the EU.
According to information provided by the European Commission, Go Mobile customers are currently paying an average of €0.30 cents when texting from abroad while Vodafone clients are paying an average €0.35 per SMS.
Malta supported the Commission initiative to intervene once again into the market following various calls made by Brussels to mobile networks fell on deaf ears.
Observers yesterday commented that the "roaming battle" was definitively won by Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding against the majority of mobile operators who fought two regulations in vain.
The first regulation limits, in a graduated way each year, the cost of voice calls from June 2007 and will continue to do so until 2012. Currently set at €0.46 for calls made and €0.22 for calls received abroad, the caps will go down further to €0.43 for calls made and €0.19 for calls received abroad on July 1, to €0.39 and €0.15 on July 1, 2010 and to €0.35 and €0.11 by July 1, 2011 (all prices per minute, excluding VAT).
The second, in addition to limiting the cost of text messages, also tackles the problem of ludicrous invoices received by consumers using mobile internet services (e-mails, videos, photos) abroad, by setting a price ceiling on wholesale prices at €1 per megabyte (excluding VAT).
Furthermore, operators are obliged to invoice roaming calls per second after the first 30 seconds, and no longer per minute. This will mean a saving of 24 per cent for consumers, according to the Commission.
"This is excellent news for European citizens," declared Commissioner Reding yesterday.
According to the new rules, consumers will now also be able to protect themselves from "bill shocks" as they will now be able to choose a cut-off mechanism once the bill reaches €50, unless the consumer opts for a higher limit. Operators will have until March 2010 to put these transparency measures in place.