EU telecoms ministers have agreed on a further set of price reductions for mobile phone roaming rates.
They have also agreed for the first time to cap the prices of SMS and data roaming charges.
Under the agreement the price of making a mobile phone call from another EU state will fall from a current maximum rate of 46c a minute (excluding VAT) to 34c a minute by July 2012.
The cost of receiving a call when in another EU state will fall from 22c a minute (ex VAT) to 10c a minute (ex VAT) in 2012.
The price of sending text messages when roaming is also set to fall to a maximum of 11c per SMS (ex VAT).
At the moment text messages can cost up to 30c when roaming.
The wholesale cost of an SMS or the rate network operators charge each other will be 4c a minute, so operators will still be making 7c per text. There will be no retail charge for receiving an SMS.
For data roaming, the telecoms council agreed to a wholesale rate of €1 per megabyte but there was no decision on what the retail ceiling should be.
The regulation must now to go to the European Parliament before it can become law, so it is still possible that MEPs will insist on setting a consumer price cap for data roaming charges.
Ireland's Communications Minster Eamon Ryan said he saw the move as part of an effort to revive the wider economy.
‘The digital economy is growing at twice the rate of the conventional economy, and is the only sector that has the growth potential to get us out of the current difficulties,’ the Minister said.
He added that Ireland was strongly in favour of measures to reduce cost and strengthen the hand of regulators.
‘Countries that support the digital economy through regulations will succeed,’ he said.
Earlier, minsters reached political agreement on a new package of measures to change the way the telecoms industry is regulated.
The Commission is seeking a more radical overhaul of the system, including more powers for the national telecoms regulators.
It is backed by the UK, Ireland and Sweden, but a number of countries led by Spain and Germany took a more conservative approach.
The telecoms package now goes to the European parliament, where commissioner Vivianne Redding will be hoping MEPs back the Commissions tougher line.
