After years of negotiations, European member states, the European Parliament and the European Commission have finally agreed on an end date for roaming charges following trilogue talks on the proposed Telecoms Single Market package. Roaming fees will be abolished on 15 June 2017, after which consumers will pay the same rates as in their home countries when using mobile services abroad in the EU.
Starting from 30 April 2016, the existing price caps on roaming will come down. Users will pay the same prices as they do at home when roaming in the EU, plus a small surcharge. These surcharges are proposed at EUR 0.05 per minute for outgoing and incoming calls, EUR 0.05 per megabyte for mobile data and EUR 0.02 per SMS, all excluding VAT. From mid-June 2017, the last surcharges will be scrapped, and users will pay for roaming from their existing postpaid bundle or prepaid credit, at the same rates as in their home country. However, roaming at home rates will be subject to a 'fair use' amount, after which operators may charge a small additional fee. According to the EC, this fee will still be "much lower" than current roaming price caps.
'Fair use'
The European Commission has been tasked with determining the fair use amount. This is intended as a safeguard to prevent abuses such as 'permanent roaming', where end-users take Sim cards from cheaper countries, which could undermine domestic markets, said the EC in a statement. The existing consumer protection measures, such as tariff alerts and spending caps, will also remain in place.
The agreement sees the EU states conceding to the demand from Parliament in its legislation passed last year and the original proposal from the European Commission that there comes an end to differences in roaming and domestic mobile prices. It also represents a relatively small regulatory intervention compared to the previous roaming reform from 2012, known as 'local break out', that attempted to stimulate alternative roaming providers and services, but saw little implementation in the market. This and a more recent proposal for a more restrictive 'roam like home' construction, where only a limited amount of roaming would be allowed at domestic rates, both led to a considerable amount of confusion, as well as extra costs for operators. The GSM Association, the leading lobby group for the mobile sector, welcomed the latest agreement as bringing "clarity" and ending the "regulatory uncertainty".
Wholesale reforms still needed
Further work will still need to be done to prepare for the proposed end of all roaming surcharges by mid-2017. The Commission, along with the EU telecoms regulator Berec, will start work as soon as possible on possible changes to wholesale roaming structures in preparation for the deadline. After Parliament in April 2014 passed legislation calling for an end to roaming by the end of 2015, Berec said in an opinion in late 2014 that it was too early to consider such a move, given the wide disparity in prices and usage across EU member states. Particularly the differences in wholesale and retail rates for data will be difficult to narrow quickly without disrupting national markets, it said.
ETNO, the industry group for incumbent telecom operators, said the final text of the new roaming rules will need to ensure that national markets are not distorted and "allow for cost-recovery for all market players". Mats Granryd, CEO of Tele2, seconded this view. Speaking at a conference of industry group ECTA in Brussels, he bemoaned the regulatory uncertainty of recent years and asked who will "refund" the costs incurred by operators for implementing the last round of roaming regulations, which now appear superfluous.
Net neutrality, with some exceptions
At the same trilogue talks on the Telecoms Single Market legislation, an agreement was also reached on net neutrality rules to treat all internet traffic equally. In its statement, the EC said the rules protect the right of every European to access internet content, without discrimination. The new rules enshrine the principle of net neutrality into EU law, meaning that no blocking or throttling of online content, applications and services will be permitted. Exceptions are allowed only for normal traffic management, network security and protection, and law enforcement objectives. The aim is for the new rules to take effect from 30 April 2016.
The European version of net neutrality agreed within the telecoms package also allows operators to give priority to certain types of "specialised" services as long as they do not harm the open internet access. This includes services requiring a guaranteed level of quality, such as IPTV, high-definition videoconferencing or healthcare services like telesurgery. The EC cautioned that "such services must not be a sold as substitute for the open internet access, they come on top of it." So-called 'paid prioritisation', where certain users can pay more for better network access, will not be allowed.
The Commission noted that 'zero rating', where users are not charged for bandwidth used on specific services, would still be allowed under the proposal. This is a common practice among mobile operators who don't charge for data used on popular services such as Facebook or Spotify in order to attract customers. The Commission noted that this does not result in the blocking of other content and "can promote a wider variety of offers for price-sensitive users, give them interesting deals, and encourage them to use digital services". The main concern would be if such offers lead to a reduction in consumer choice, and then national regulators would be charged with monitoring the market and ensuring compliance with the rules.
Digital Single Market still to come
The EC’s VP for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip welcomed the agreement, saying "Europeans have been calling and waiting for the end of roaming charges as well as for net neutrality rules. They have been heard." The final text will now be sent to the European Parliament and member states for approval before it can become law. The agreement follows last week’s endorsement by Member States of the EC’s plan to create a Digital Single Market.
The EC’s commissioner for the Digital Economy Gunther Oettinger also welcomed what he described as a "crucial" agreement to finally end roaming charges and establish "pragmatic" net neutrality rules. “We will build on these important foundations in our forthcoming review of the EU's telecoms legislation,” he said. The review of the telecom regulatory framework is part of the European Commission's Digital Single Market policy, presented in May. The GSMA said "much more needs to be done" under the DSM proposal than the latest agreement on roaming and neutrality "in order to address the region’s growth and competitiveness challenges".
