[via SlashGear]

Commission welcomes new EU standards for common mobile phone charger

Following a mandate from the European Commission, the European Standardisation Bodies CEN-CENELEC and ETSI have now made available the harmonised standards needed for the manufacture of data-enabled mobile phones compatible with a new common charger. This is the most recent development in the process towards a global common mobile phone charger initiated by the European Commission. It follows the June 2009 agreement of fourteen leading mobile phone producers to harmonise chargers for data-enabled mobile phones (i.e. that can be connected to a computer) sold in the European Union.

European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, said: “I am very happy that the European Standardisation Bodies have met our request to develop within a short space of time the technical standards necessary for a common mobile phone charger based on the work done by industry. Now it is time for industry to show its commitment to sell mobile phones for the new charger. The common charger will make life easier for consumers, reduce waste and benefit businesses. It is a true win-win situation.”

Incompatibility of chargers for mobile phones is not only a major inconvenience for users, but also a considerable environmental problem. Users who want to change their mobile phones must usually acquire a new charger and dispose of the old one, even if it is in good condition. In response to citizens’ demand for a common charger, the Commission invited manufacturers to agree on a technical solution making compatible the chargers of different brands.

As a result, world leading mobile phone producers committed themselves to ensure compatibility of data-enabled mobile phones, expected to be predominant in the market within two years, on the basis of the Micro-USB connector. The agreement was established in June 2009 and signed by Apple, Emblaze Mobile, Huawei Technologies, LGE, Motorola Mobility, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research In Motion (RIM), Samsung, Sony Ericsson, TCT Mobile (ALCATEL), Texas Instruments and Atmel (IP/09/1049).

The Commission then issued a mandate to the European Standardisation Organisations CEN-CENELEC and ETSI in December 2009, requesting the development of European standards for the common charger. The two organisations have now delivered. The standards allow for interoperability, i.e. the common charger is compatible with data-enabled mobile telephones of different brands. They also take account of safety risks and electro-magnetic emissions and ensure that common chargers have sufficient immunity to external interference.

The European Commission expects the first common chargers and mobile phones compatible with the new standards to reach the European market in the first months of 2011.

[via slashgear]

“Europe, through its GSM standard, made mobile telephony attractive across the globe. It is now time to demonstrate that there is a truly single telecoms market in which consumers can use their mobile phone in all 27 EU countries without being punished when crossing a border,” said José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. “If we get this done quickly we will see tremendous growth in SMS and data services, and send a message that lower roaming charges can be a win-win situation for all.”

EU Consumer Commissioner Kuneva said: “If Europe wants to deliver concrete results for its 500 million consumers, then practices whereby operators charge for a service which they do not deliver should not be acceptable. Today, consumers are overcharged by 24% on average for mobile calls they make abroad as roaming calls are very often charged not by the second, but only by the minute. A priority for us is fair treatment of consumers when they cross a border and this is why the Commission decided today to introduce the principle of per second billing for all roaming calls”.

A typical French customer sending a roaming text message from holidays in Italy this summer could pay up to €0.30, while a Czech tourist would pay up to €0.42 (10.00 CZK). In Spain, a Swedish holidaymaker could pay up to €0.40 (3.79 SEK) per message when roaming, a German €0.32, a Pole €0.47 (1.50 ZL), a tourist from the UK €0.63 (£0.40 GBP) and a Latvian even as much as €0.70 (0.49 LVL) per SMS. The Commission therefore proposes a retail cap of €0.11 on roaming text messages (excluding VAT), combined with a €0.04 cap at wholesale level. Wholesale prices are charged by one operator to another for a customer to send a message between their networks. Operators are encouraged to compete below these maximum price caps, set by the Commission after a detailed impact assessment with input from the European Regulators Group (ERG).

The Commission will start working on measures to ensure that consumers benefit from a truly single market for mobile text services. The Commission will also seek to put an end to “bill shocks” that can hit roaming customers using a mobile connection to surf the Internet. New measures could be proposed by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council in early autumn.

“EU citizens should be free to text across borders without being ripped off,” said Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding. “Roaming charges have already drained the wallets of mobile customers too much, especially the 77% of young people who send texts while using their mobile abroad. It is not a good sign for the competitiveness of Europe’s mobile industry that it still hasn’t got the message that credible price reductions are needed to avoid regulation. I will therefore recommend to my fellow Commissioners that we propose a regulation of SMS roaming in October. We will also have to discuss in which way to address data roaming, which continues to be heavily overpriced.”

“Based on the assessment of the market made by national regulators, the ERG found that roaming prices for sending text messages are currently too high and has highlighted the need for regulation. We welcome the fact that the Commission has arrived at the same conclusions”, said Dániel Pataki, Chairman of the ERG and Head of the Hungarian National Communications Authority. “In the view of the ERG, a price cap between €0.11 and €0.15 per SMS would be appropriate”, he added.

The Commission today presented a new roaming website to make transparent the prices currently charged to consumers who use their mobile phone for sending text messages or surfing the web abroad in one of the 27 EU Member States. Based on input from the European Regulators Group (ERG) and from information requested from mobile operators, the website shows:

• A typical French customer sending a roaming text message from holidays in Italy this summer could pay up to €0.30, while a Czech tourist in Italy would pay up to €0.42 (10.00 CZK). In Spain, a Swedish holidaymaker could pay up to €0.40 (3.79 SEK) per message when roaming, a German €0.41, a Pole €0.45 (1.50 ZL) and a tourist from the UK as much as €0.63 (£0.40 GBP)
• The average retail price of text messages in the EU has remained unchanged since February when Commissioner Reding called on the industry to lower prices voluntarily. A roaming text message still costs around €0.29 (excluding VAT), and can go up to €0.80 for Belgian roamers. This is more than ten times higher than the price for domestic text messages which can be as low as €0.034 according to a new study by the Danish regulator (National IT and Telecom Agency).
• Only one operator in Austria reacted to the Commission’s call for better prices offering 100 bundled text messages at €0.10 per roamed message as of 16 June.
• Prices for data services while roaming still range from €0.25 per MB to over €16 per MB (IP/08/1048). This can create “bill-shocks” particularly for users who are not aware that such prices apply. In addition, high wholesale rates prevent smaller operators and operators from smaller EU countries from offering more competitive data packages to their customers.

These findings and the results of a public consultation that ended on 2 July (IP/08/718) will now feed into the Commission’s current review of the scope of the EU Roaming Regulation which has been requested by the European Parliament. A detailed impact assessment is in preparation, also taking into account the findings of the ERG.