EU ministers approve new wholesale roaming rates

News Wireless Europe 5 DEC 2016
EU ministers approve new wholesale roaming rates
The EU telecom ministers have approved new caps on wholesale roaming prices higher than those earlier agreed by a European Parliamentary committee . The Council of Ministers set the rates at EUR 0.0353 cent per minute, EUR 0.01 per SMS and EUR 0.01 per MB from June 2017, when all roaming retail surcharges will end in the EU. The data rate will fall on a glide path to EUR 0.005 per MB in June 2021, and all the rates would be evaluated in two years by the European Commission. 

The amounts approved by the Council are higher than the current wholesale data rate of EUR 0.0085 and a cap of EUR 4 per GB, dropping to EUR 1 per GB in 2020 approved by the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. Once the full parliament approves its position, it must enter into negotiations with the Council to reach a final position. 

The Council said it hopes to reach a quick agreement with Parliament so the end to retail roaming charges can go ahead next June. The reduced wholesale rates are needed to ensure the new system in sustainable for operators. The minister also approved a mechanism for exceptional cases. If operators are not able to recover their costs, they may ask their national regulator for permission to apply a surcharge on top of the caps. However, even when exceptionally applying a surcharge, the total wholesale charge for data cannot exceed EUR 0.0085 per MB.

Categories:

Mobile

Regions:

Europe

Tags:

Voice services, Data services, Regulations, Wireless, Internet Access, Wholesale, Pricing, Government policy

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