Brussels, 05/08/2008 (Agence Europe) - Faced with the European Commission's determination to regulate SMS roaming prices, some companies are positioning themselves. Transatel, a French mobile phone company with subsidiaries in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands welcomed Commissioner Vivianne Reding's intention to reduce SMS prices between European countries and affirmed that, “European legislation at a European level is indispensable for promoting MVNO mobile roaming specialists and competition”. The Commission recently pointed out that SMS roaming charges cannot be appealed and mobile phone operators were displaying an obvious lack of determination to introduce any self-regulation. According to figures published in mid-July, the 2.5 billion roaming SMS messages sent in the European Union every year is subsequently 10 times higher than text messages sent with national networks (EUROPE 9704.
Transatel states that it is offering SMS messages at the roaming cost of 12 Euro cents in the country where it is based (the average roaming text message in the EU, according to the European Regulators Group, was 0.29 cents between October 2007 and March 2008). Transatel thinks that, “the real solution will be through increasing competition and promoting the MVNO development (mobile virtual network operator) for roaming specialists”. These mobile virtual operators are accommodated by the traditional operators (these have spectrum frequency and network infrastructure) from whom they purchase communication minutes which are then sold on under their own brand to their customers. The MVNO, however, are struggling to get ahead, faced with their host operators imposing drastic accommodation costs on them. Transatel is requesting that the Commission exerts pressure on the traditional mobile operators in Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, which are refusing to conclude MVNO agreements. (A.B./trans/rh)