EU to slash cost of mobile phone calls

Viviane Reding is looking to harmonise call termination fees across Europe

The European Commission has announced plans to reduce the cost of mobile phone calls by 70 per cent over the next three years by cutting the fees operators charge for using each others' networks.

The EU's telecoms watchdog has issued guidelines for legislation to harmonise call termination fees across the European Union by 2011.

Call termination charges across the region vary widely, from two cents per minute in Cyprus to 18 cents in Bulgaria.

A total of 27 national authorities regulate the fees charged by an operator for handling mobile phone calls from another network.

"The consumer pays the price for these gaps between national regulatory policies," said EU Telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding.

Reding recently hinted that European mobile phone users may be charged for incoming calls on their handsets.

Adopting such a US-style model could further cut overall charges by reducing the charges for dialling out.