Today's Telegraph reports that a London businessman got hit with £11,000 (about $22,000) in mobile roaming charges after his wife tried to download two episodes of Friends.

Apparently, she began the downloads using his phone while he was safely in the UK -- and the shows would have been free. The downloads were suspended while he flew to Germany, however, and resumed when he landed.

The high price of roaming is one of several reasons that I haven't yet jumped on the iPhone bandwagon. The service in the UK is excellent, but Apple doesn't yet have a provider on the continent, making travel there famously and even hilariously expensive.

As a newcomer to Europe, I find whole issue a little hard to swallow. As an American, I've long since come to terms with the fact that Europe and Asia are far ahead of the U.S. when it comes to mobile. And international travel in Europe isn't just for lovely holidays anymore -- it's essential for business.

Indeed, the case is so compelling that it's hard to believe market forces haven't already addressed the issue. And with data usage surging as so-called smart phones proliferate and the mobile web continues its explosive growth, customer pressure for reasonable roaming is only going to strengthen. Even if it doesn't, the European Commission is threatening to step up:

"Viviane Reding, the European Union commissioner for information, society and media, has given phone companies until July 1 to cut their fees for downloading data and texting while abroad.

"She said: 'Sending a text message or downloading data in another country should not be substantially more expensive than at home. Higher retail charges abroad must be justified or they will have to disappear.'"

My political sensibilities aren't excited about government-imposed price controls, but whatever the means, lower international roaming costs will be good news for mobile users, and will continue to spur the expansion of mobile communication. Not to mention making it more likely that I'll wind up with an iPhone.