Europe’s national telecom ministers have consented to European Commission plans to further cap roaming data and SMS charges, but have stood up against a wider package of telecom reforms. France (via Reuters) said the various ministers had agreed to reduce cross-border data from the current average €2.05 per megabyte to a nice round €1 per megabyte at the wholesale level. They will also reduce SMS rates from an average €0.29 to €0.11, and start billing roamed calls per second not per minute.

But ministers rejected the commission’s idea for a pan-European telecoms regulator and for centralising spectrum regulation, DowJones reports. EC telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding: “There was a constructive crisis this morning at the meeting, as several (countries) felt that the text agreed so far was not ambitious enough.”

France, the current host president of the European Union led a drive for a compromise. Reding: “The new text now agreed by ministers is an improvement compared with the initial text of this morning, even though I continue to believe that Europe’s telecoms sector requires better rules than those now on the table here.” Reding said the European parliament, commission and council of ministers must now “sit down together without delay” because reforms to guarantee spectrum management, broadband for all and an internet bill of rights are urgently needed. Both the parliament and council must agree on the measures debated today before they can become law.

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