European mobile users may have to pay for incoming calls

The European Union's telecoms chief is ready to accept that mobile telephone users may have to pay for receiving calls if the overall costs for customers are lower, her spokesman said yesterday.

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding is due to come out this month with her long-awaited recommendations on cutting the fees mobile and fixed line operators charge for routing each others' calls to an end customer.

The guidelines could in turn lead to new business models being introduced whereby customers may have to pay to receive as well as make calls but under more consumer-friendly schemes.