Data roaming charges for phones to end in Europe

Theweek.co.uk - UK holidaymakers travelling to Europe will no longer face hefty bills to use the internet on their smartphones, after European authorities finally reached agreement on proposals for a single telecoms market across the continent.

Under new rules announced yesterday by the European Commission after two years of talks, "roaming" charges applied to internet use outside an individual's home country will be abolished within the European Union from June 2017.

From April next year interim measures come into force which will reduce surcharges to five cents (4p) per minute for calls or megabyte of internet data and two cents per text message, which the Commission says reduces the maximum charge by around 75 per cent compared to current caps.

That is a big difference from the current system under which, The Guardian reports, operators can charge travellers 19 cents a minute for calls, six cents per text message, and 20 cents per megabyte of data on top of their normal tariff.

The new rules also include provisions to ensure "net neutrality", which will prevent operators prioritising domestic internet traffic above overseas visitors, resulting in poor download speeds.

The BBC notes there are caveats in place that allow providers to provide higher-quality connections for specialist services such as internet television, so long as this does not compromise the overall quality of traffic for others.

Internet service providers will also be allowed to 'throttle' traffic where this is in the public interest, for example to combat the proliferation of images of child sexual abuse or in the event of a terrorist attack.

The news was generally welcomed, although some bemoaned conditions which "water down" the neutrality proposals.

Ernest Doku of uSwitch.com told website Telecoms.com that as the deal still needs to be approved by the European Parliament there remains a danger of "backtracking". He cited an earlier deal to end roaming charges by 2015, which was subsequently reversed.

Avandia Dibatasi di AS, Dilarang di Eropa

Kompas.com - Badan regulasi obat Eropa, European Medicines Agency, dan Amerika Serikat, the US Food and Drug Administration, Kamis (23/9), mengumumkan, penjualan obat diabetes Avandia akan dibatasi secara ketat di AS serta dihentikan di Eropa.

Dokter di AS diizinkan meresepkan obat itu dengan pembatasan ketat. Sedangkan badan pengawas obat Eropa menyatakan, peredaran obat dihentikan dan akan ditarik dari pasar dalam beberapa bulan mendatang.

Obat dengan nama generik Rosiglitazone produksi perusahaan farmasi GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) itu disetujui FDA pada 1999 dan menjadi obat pencegah diabetes paling laris di dunia. Namun, penggunaan obat itu anjlok pada 2007 setelah dikaitkan dengan peningkatan risiko serangan jantung dan stroke.

Awal September, badan pengawas obat Inggris menyatakan, sebuah panel ahli independen menyimpulkan, Avandia meningkatkan risiko serangan jantung dan merekomendasikan obat ditarik dari peredaran.

Profesor Kent Woods, Direktur the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, menyatakan, keselamatan pasien merupakan prioritas utama.

FDA pertahankan

Sebaliknya, FDA masih mempertahankan obat itu di pasaran meski ada tekanan dari para ahli, peneliti, dan politisi secara internasional agar obat ditarik dari pasaran.

Juli lalu, pemungutan suara sebuah panel ahli yang beranggotakan 33 orang menunjukkan, 20 ahli memilih mempertahankan Avandia. ”FDA mengambil tindakan ini untuk melindungi pasien setelah menimbang secara hati-hati manfaat dan risikonya untuk mendukung perawatan klinis,” kata Komisioner FDA Margaret Hamburg.

Pasien bisa mendapat Avandia jika kadar gula darahnya tak bisa dikontrol dengan obat lain. Dokter harus membuktikan apakah pasien layak mendapatkan obat itu dan wajib memberitahukan risikonya.