Still no European unification for mobile phones

But it looks like it is coming soon, and about time:

EU efforts to cut mobile roaming costs by summer have been thrown into doubt because MEPs and European governments cannot agree on the details.

Attempts to reach a compromise before a vote originally scheduled to be held in parliament next week have collapsed.

The BBC article notes some of the rates being wrangled over, but what is notable is that in all cases the result is bound to be a fraction of the present norm. It would be still better if the accords included North American carriers as well, but as is I'll be happy to be able to rely on just one European SIM card, instead of one for each country I typically visit -- with all the attendant hassle of keeping each one live in case I don't use it often enough.

Posted by David on May 7, 2007 3:34 PM