(LONDON) - Britain lobbied against European Union plans to impose price caps on mobile phone roaming rates which were put into place earlier this year, The Times reported on Thursday.

Citing government e-mails and minutes of meetings it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the newspaper said that the British negotiator regularly communicated with Britain's major mobile phone networks to keep them abreast of developments, and to discuss Britain's stance on the proposals.

Nigel Hickson, Britain's chief negotiator on a European working party on the proposals, wrote an e-mail to Vodafone on February 5 on a possible new proposal from the European Commission: " I assume we want to avoid at all costs!"

Minutes from a November meeting between Margaret Hodge, then industry minister, and officials from mobile phone operator T-Mobile note that the phone network "thanked MH for the government's help and support on European regulations, particularly mobile roaming."

According to the European Commission, EU consumers have seen the cost of using their mobile phones while abroad in the Europe fall by up to 60 percent since price caps were put in place over the summer.

Since July 30, mobile operators in the EU have had to offer customers so-called roaming rates below a price ceiling and had to switch them over by the end of September.

After the apparent success of regulated roaming rates, EU Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding urged operators to bring down costs for text messages and data or face price caps.

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