After the EU Telecom Commissioner Viviane Reding asked phone companies to charge less for the text messages their subscribers need to pay while using their cell phones outside their countries, EU might take the step and regulate these fees.

The average amount of money cell phone companies charge their subscribes for sending text messages from aboard is 43 eurocents, only one eurocent less than this time last year. Viviane Reding considers that this drop in prices is not enough. A final decision on the subject is expected Tuesday.

Mobile phone companies in the European Union have already been forced to drop the fees they charge for phone calls from aboard already. The move seems to have helped the market grow and has reduced the money people pay for this sort of services with about 60 percent.

Recent studies have shown that if companies would charge only around 12 eurocents for text messages for people who use their mobile phone outside the country they live in would be enough to cover the companies’ expenses and also make a pretty good profit for them.

At this moment, sms roaming fees are accountable for as little as 1 percent of the mobile phone providers’ profits. Even though the new regulations shouldn’t make the companies loose a significant amount of money, it might lead to complaints from them.

Cell phone companies might face another attempt from authorities to interfere with their business, as the EU has shown signs of wanting to regulate the termination fees these companies charge. Companies have already said that if this will be put into practice, people should expect not to be able to get their phones at prices as cheap as they are now.