Paris set to bring in text message price controls

France is poised to become the first European Union country to introduce price controls on text messages in a move that could pave the way for other member states to regulate the booming market. The European Commission backed 20 July 2006 a request by the French telecommunications watchdog to cap the wholesale fees operators Orange, SFR and Bouygues charge each other to send customers' SMS messages across their networks in France.

European Commission: Press Release: IP/06/1041: Short Messages on mobile phones ("SMS"): Commission agrees with decision by French regulator to bring down wholesale prices http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1041&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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