EU sees too few texting price cuts

BRUSSELS, July 1 (Reuters) - Submissions from mobile phone operators show too few price cuts for sending a text message outside a home state in the European Union, an official in the EU's executive body said on Tuesday.

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding gave operators until June 30 say what their prices are from July 1 for roamed text messages and data such as using a laptop or mobile to check emails and download files outside a home state.

Over 90 letters were sent to CEOs of mobile operators and Reding received 65 replies by the deadline, with some saying they needed several months to respond.

"There has been some movement on data prices but not on texts," the Commission official said.

Reding will announce on around July 18 if she will propose mandatory caps on roamed texts and data.

Caps on text (or SMS) charges are now expected by all in the industry.

"We think she will propose regulation for SMS prices and probably conclude that data is too young a market and instead look for some kind of transparency measures to avoid bill shock," an industry official said.

Reding wants the price of roamed texts to come down to 12 euro cents to the consumer and for operators to charge no more than 35 euro cents per megabyte in the wholesale market for data.

Several operators such as Deutsche Telekom's (DTEGn.DE) T-Mobile have announced cheaper data roaming packages as they not only seek to head off Reding but also compete more directly with Wifi. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by David Holmes)