Negotiators are ‘approaching a break-through’ on capping internat...

Niebler said Tues., lawmakers have done all they can to cut roaming prices for consumers and hope telecom ministers agree when they meet June 7. Austrian MEP Paul Rubig, who wrote the lead report on the EC proposals, said the compromise package includes: (1) Caps, for the first year of the 3-year regulation, of 49 eurocents a min. for roaming calls made and 24 eurocents for calls received, “a major concession to Council.” Year 2, rates drop to 46 and 22 eurocents, and at the end of that year to 43 and 19 eurocents. (2) A sunset clause, under which the regulation would end after 3 years - sooner, if after 18 months the EC decides it isn’t working. (3) Wholesale tariffs -- rates mobile operators charge one another to transmit calls on their networks -- applying within 2 months of the regulation’s effective date, of 30 eurocents a minute the first year, dropping to 28 and 26 the 2nd and 3rd years. (4) Clear pricing, with customers getting push text messages from operators detailing individualized per-minute tariffs as they cross EU borders, and a phone number where they can get information on other services. Once the rule takes effect, mobile operators will have a month to offer customers attractive deals. If buyers don’t respond, the automatic retail “Eurotariff” kicks in 2 months later; wholesale ceilings take effect 2 months after entry into force. But U.K. Christian Democrat MEP and ITRE member Giles Chichester said that despite what seems to be a long lead-in time, he'd be “astonished” if operators didn’t “take the hint” and adjust their rates quickly. The package is a compromise and it’s unclear whether the various EP political parties will buy it, said Maltese Socialist MEP Joseph Muscat. Only one parliamentary group, the Christian Democrats, has signalled acceptance, he said; others are reviewing. Muscat said he had hoped that negotiators would “go the extra mile” by making the Eurotariff automatic, without consumers having to opt into any plan. “I don’t take the support of my group for granted on this issue,” he said. The compromise sets wholesale price caps so low operators will be hard-pressed to compete below them, a GSM Assn. (GSMA) spokesman said. Companies worry about the proposed annual cap reductions, which seem arbitrary and not based on how actual costs may change, he said. GSMA still is analyzing the deal’s potential effect on operators, but it’s concerned about having to contact all customers about which tariff they prefer, the spokesman said. Providers favor an opt-in approach where the consumer decides whether to shift to a different rate, he said. The Council is expected to endorse the compromise package today (Wed.). ITRE votes on it May 21; the full parliament, May 24. If the Council accepts the package, telecom ministers will formally ratify it when they meet June 7, ITRE said.