The New York Times is reporting that the European Union's telecommunications minister will soon propose price controls that would reduce roaming fees for sending text messages, along with limits that could reduce the cost of accessing the Internet via cell phones.

Viviane Reding, the telecommunications minister, will seek to cap retail roaming fees for SMS texting within the European Union at 11 euro cents, or 16 American cents, per message. The report said that the new proposal represents a 62 percent reduction in current fees. As for accessing the Internet, Reding's proposal would halve the average current cost to one euro per megabyte.

"SMS prices are really too high, so bringing them down is best thing that can happen for consumers," said Monique Goyens, the director general of the Brussels-based European Consumers' Organization, which represents 41 consumer groups, in the report.

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