14 DAY TRIAL // According to the latest news on the Web, politicians at the European Parliament are considering asking mobile phone carriers to lower the prices for their services. While calls have already seen a drop in prices, this time the measure is supposed to be taken in what concerns text messaging. Texting home from countries in Europe is expected to also cost less.
“You'll definitely pay less than you do now,” says Adina Valean, Member of the European Parliament, a sustainer of the plan. “The proposal is to reduce the cost of sending an SMS to 11 cents.” The measure would drive the prices for sending a text message to only 10p per message, which would be only one third of the current price. At the same time, the texts would be free to receive.
On the other hand, the news also points towards the fact that phone companies will be restricted when it comes to how much they can charge users for surfing the Internet on their handsets. According to some consumers, such as Johnny Harris, the current deal does not favor users at all. “I get massive bills each summer,” he said. “If you have troubles when you're away, like someone's ill, that could help cut the cost. More and more of us are traveling abroad now too so anything they can do to bring it down would help.”
On the other hand, mobile phone operators also claim that the prices are falling at the moment, but they say that politicians should stay out of the matter. The plan to reduce text messaging costs will be debated in the European Parliament on Tuesday, and, provided that it gets approved, it might become a law before the beginning of the summer holidays.
“I think it's ridiculous that it's so expensive,” said Cyndia Harvey, 22. “It should be just the same, standard rate, as what it is here. I think they'd make more money as well – people go abroad so often now, but they don't call because they know it's so expensive.”