This article is obviously written by somebody who has only a very limited knowledge of the European market.

First of all, the situation in Europe is quite varied. You can get unlimited data plans and large SMS packages in Germany (and you see people sending 3 messages a minute in public transport...). I don't think you can in France. Every country is different.

Secondly, one major difference between Europe and the US is that being in a different country happens much more often (the countries being smaller) and that roaming charges can be very, very steep. Voice roaming charges were actually so outrageous that the European Commission stepped in and passed a legislation on a max price this summer. Data roaming charges are still outrageous (as high as 40€ per MEGAbyte, yes!) and the Commission is discussing changing that as well. Still, this is still a problem with data-centric phones, like the iPhone (and I think that some users will have a bad surprise at some point...).

What is uncommon is what you have in the US where customers must pay to receive an SMS. We don't have that (but it existed for roaming and of course you still pay to receive a call abroad). OTOH, it can sometimes prove very difficult to know in advance how much calling a given number will cost you.