EC queries Danish SMS termination rates

The European Commission (EC) has written to the Danish Business Authority (DBA) to express doubts about the compatibility with EU law of DBA’s proposed regulation of SMS termination rates. The EC is concerned that termination rates for SMS sent from operators within Denmark to the MVNO Lycamobile are subject to lower price caps than SMS originating from operators from elsewhere in the EU. The Commission says this contravenes EU law, under which regulation must apply ‘without discrimination on the basis of the origin of the SMS within the EU’. The EC says it will now discuss with the DBA how best to align the rates to comply with EU legislation. DBA was created on 1 January 2012 when the Danish Commerce and Companies Agency, the Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority, and certain business areas of the National IT and Telecom Agency (Telestyrelsen) were merged under a single umbrella.