When mobile users are traveling, cellular roaming costs can add up. The ideal solution would be for mobile operators all over the world to reduce their roaming rates, which, admittedly, is happening to a degree in Europe. In lieu of significant widespread reductions, though, the industry has begun chipping away at the problem with a variety of approaches.

First, note that the prices for mobile calls while traveling in the European Union dropped in August to EUR 0.46 (66 cents) per minute for making calls and to EUR 0.22 (32 cents) per minute for receiving calls. Still steep, but progress.

There are other approaches to minimizing cellular bills. As noted last time, start-up Agito Networks has just launched a new version of its enterprise fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) equipment, the RoamAnywhere Mobility Router. One new capability is a dynamic least-cost routing feature. A tracking function determines where the user is and, based on that information, the least expensive way to route a call, be it over a Wi-Fi network, if one is available, or the cellular network, explains Agito co-founder and VP of marketing Pej Roshan.

For example, if a user is in a domestic location but on the road and needs to make an international cellular call, the system will detect that and route the call through the corporate PBX to take advantage of the company’s corporate international rate plan. However, if the user is in a foreign country and dialing another user in the same country, the Agito algorithm will figure that out and not anchor the call back in the user’s origin country, Roshan says, which would entail making a long-distance international call.

He adds that the latest version of its equipment supports more than 30 handsets, including the new Nokia E66 and E71 phones. Competitor DiVitas supports 10 handsets to date, including the Nokie E71. Neither company supports the Apple iPhone or RIM BlackBerry yet.

DiVitas’s strategy for reducing cellular bills is to disable the cellular roaming feature for international travelers and have them use Wi-Fi instead. The strategy echoes that of DeFi Mobile, which offers a flat-rate, carrier-grade international service that banks on Wi-Fi availability.

Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in Silicon Valley.