UPDATE 1-EU consults on whether to cap SMS, data tariffs

(Adds industry reaction)

By Huw Jones

BRUSSELS, May 7 (Reuters) - How mobile phone operators bill customers and the possibility of caps on the cost of surfing the Web on a laptop abroad were included in a public consultation launched by the European Commission on Wednesday.

The European Union adopted Eurotariff price caps last year on the cost of using a mobile phone outside a home state in the 27-country bloc and is now examining if the "roaming" caps should be extended beyond June 2010 when they are due to expire.

The consultation exercise will seek to find out whether the EU rules have been effective, whether their term and scope should be extended, and what impact they have had on billing practices, domestic tariffs and smaller operators.

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding has given operators until June to cut the cost of texting outside a home state and for using a mobile phone or laptop to surf the Web or download emails and files while on the move, known as data roaming.

Unless operators comply, Reding has said she will propose adding texts and data roaming to the scope of the current EU rules which only cover voice calls.

The consultation paper said the regulation has been effective so far but more may need to be done.

The cost of making a call home while roaming has dropped from an average of 1.10 euros per minute to not more than 0.49 euro cents per minute, the cap imposed by the EU rules.