INTERVIEW: As mobile operators in Europe rush to comply with legislation to protect consumers from massive roaming and SMS/MMS bills, Amit Daniel, vice president of marketing for Starhome, tells smartphone.biz-news about the challenges - and the advantages - the new rules will bring.

MACH has announced a range of solutions designed to offset the impact on mobile operator roaming revenues of the recent European Union (EU) pricing regulations.
The company says its EU Compliance Power Pack will immediately counter the forecast reduction in revenues by implementing smart rating and price optimisation.

Skuku has announced today that it has formed a partnership with the German company TriaGnoSys to provide the next generation of inflight GSM services for airline passengers.
The new service allows travellers to avoid costly roaming charges while placing phone calls aboard commercial airlines.

Truphone has unveiled its plans for a single-SIM, multi-country mobile service that will enable users to make calls in supported countries at local rates.
The mobile communications company says a key aim of the Local Anywhere service is to eliminate the hassle of switching SIM cards or the expense of often-exorbitant roaming charges when callers use their handsets on foreign trips, according to voip.biz-news.

Filed under: Messaging, Verizon Wireless, CDMA, Misc

Whoa, boy, this could get ugly. A few days back, a notice was revealed to the public that explained Verizon Wireless' new $0.03 fee that would be charged to all content aggregators who sent out mobile terminated messages on its network. After the expected backlash hit, the carrier then issued another statement informing us all that the note was simply an internal memo that was meant for internal discussions alone, but that doesn't change the fact that it's at least considering the plan. Of course, it would only affect for-profit aggregators, but still, imposing such a fee could certainly shake the foundation of that sector -- particularly if other carriers follow suit. And you know how other carriers love to follow suit, now don't you?

Read - Original memo
Read - Response to memo

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Europe’s telcoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, has told the European Parliament to back proposed changes to telecoms regulation across Europe.
She called for quicker data portability, compulsory data breach laws if private information is lost, more transparent pricing structures to make life easier for consumers, and more wireless broadband services to improve net access for rural types.

Vodafone has voiced its opposition to plans to introduce a Receiving-Party-Pays (RPP) model in Europe, saying the move would force operators to raise retail charges.
The telecoms company said this would lead to 40 million users getting rid of their cell phones.