France wins EU green light to regulate texting prices

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2006

BRUSSELS (AFP) — The European Commission has granted French telecoms authorities the right to regulate the wholesale price of mobile phone text messages.

European Union information society commissioner Viviane Reding has approved a request to set the prices for SMS between the main mobile providers in France, said the document by the EU's commission.

The commission, the EU's executive arm, said a request by French telecoms regulator ARCEP was "reasonable, proportionate and justified", in a letter published on its website.

If France acts on the EU green light, it will be the first European country to fix the wholesale price of text messages -- the prices which operators charge eachother to carry text messages on their networks.

The new tariffs...