EU to end mobile roaming charges next year
Mar 5, 2015, 7:35 am
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Mar 24, 2015, 1:43 pm
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Andrus Ansip, the former PM of Estonia who is now the EU commissioner for crafting a single digital market strategy, supports ending roaming charges as soon as possible.
However, this roaming charges issue seems to be tied to the debate about net neutrality. The European Parliament is for net neutrality while the Germans appears to be for prioritization of "special services."
It doesn't sound like the EU bodies have much clout other than advisory roles on this issue. Sounds like ultimately, the member govts. will make the final decision.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/eus-digi...ity-1427215501
However, this roaming charges issue seems to be tied to the debate about net neutrality. The European Parliament is for net neutrality while the Germans appears to be for prioritization of "special services."
It doesn't sound like the EU bodies have much clout other than advisory roles on this issue. Sounds like ultimately, the member govts. will make the final decision.
In Europe, governments have taken a softer approach. This month they agreed to allow telecom operators to charge premiums for certain Internet services, such as online television, to guarantee speedy connections—provided the Internet connection for the majority of users wasn’t impaired by such deals.
That position, and a decision to leave mobile-phone roaming charges in place until at least 2018, sets up a clash with the European Parliament over the bloc’s telecom market overhaul. EU lawmakers have advocated strict rules on net neutrality that would force Internet service providers to treat all traffic equally, and have called for an end to mobile roaming fees by year-end.
For the plans to become law, national governments must thrash out a compromise deal with the European Parliament and with the commission. The commission, which made the initial proposal, can also withdraw it if it is unhappy with the direction the negotiations have taken.
In calling for “strong net-neutrality rules,” Mr. Ansip seemed to side with the parliament—and against Günther Oettinger, his fellow EU commissioner and Germany’s powerful representative in Brussels.
“We need an open Internet for consumers...no blocking or throttling,” Mr. Ansip said.
That position, and a decision to leave mobile-phone roaming charges in place until at least 2018, sets up a clash with the European Parliament over the bloc’s telecom market overhaul. EU lawmakers have advocated strict rules on net neutrality that would force Internet service providers to treat all traffic equally, and have called for an end to mobile roaming fees by year-end.
For the plans to become law, national governments must thrash out a compromise deal with the European Parliament and with the commission. The commission, which made the initial proposal, can also withdraw it if it is unhappy with the direction the negotiations have taken.
In calling for “strong net-neutrality rules,” Mr. Ansip seemed to side with the parliament—and against Günther Oettinger, his fellow EU commissioner and Germany’s powerful representative in Brussels.
“We need an open Internet for consumers...no blocking or throttling,” Mr. Ansip said.
Jun 30, 2015, 11:51 am
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So they announced an agreement today to end roaming charges by June 2017. Who knows after all the previous false starts whether this will stick?
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33325031
So the timeline is for member states to ratify these new rules, including the net neutrality (with exceptions) rules, by December of this year:
Data roaming charges are set to be abolished within the European Union by June 2017, it has been announced.
The ban will be preceded by a 14-month interim period, in which companies can still add surcharges - but at a reduced rate.
A deal, reached on Tuesday, also sets out rules requiring telecom operators to treat most internet traffic equally.
But the net neutrality rules will allow firms to favour some services, such as internet TVs.
From April 2016, telecoms operators will be able to add a surcharge of no more than:
€0.05 (3.5p) extra per minute for calls
€0.02 extra per SMS sent
€0.05 extra per megabyte of data used
The cap would make roaming within the EU 75% cheaper during the interim period, the European Commission said.
The ban will be preceded by a 14-month interim period, in which companies can still add surcharges - but at a reduced rate.
A deal, reached on Tuesday, also sets out rules requiring telecom operators to treat most internet traffic equally.
But the net neutrality rules will allow firms to favour some services, such as internet TVs.
From April 2016, telecoms operators will be able to add a surcharge of no more than:
€0.05 (3.5p) extra per minute for calls
€0.02 extra per SMS sent
€0.05 extra per megabyte of data used
The cap would make roaming within the EU 75% cheaper during the interim period, the European Commission said.
So the timeline is for member states to ratify these new rules, including the net neutrality (with exceptions) rules, by December of this year:
The agreement will be presented to the EU's member states between July and December this year for formal adoption.
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) - the fourth largest grouping of MEPs in the European Parliament - has previously criticised regulators for trying to water down plans to end data roaming.
But it welcomed Tuesday's announcement.
The president of the ALDE group, Guy Verhofstadt, said the "great roaming rip-off" was to be brought to an end.
The group blamed the delay in successfully negotiating the deal on member states, which have been accused of seeking to protect their national operators in the past.
But Marietje Schaake MEP, another member of the group, renewed the attack on the net-neutrality deal, saying: "The compromise reached now is a watered-down version of the strong ambitions of the European Parliament."
Gunther Oettinger, the commissioner for the digital economy and society, defended the net-neutrality proposals as a "pragmatic" approach.
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) - the fourth largest grouping of MEPs in the European Parliament - has previously criticised regulators for trying to water down plans to end data roaming.
But it welcomed Tuesday's announcement.
The president of the ALDE group, Guy Verhofstadt, said the "great roaming rip-off" was to be brought to an end.
The group blamed the delay in successfully negotiating the deal on member states, which have been accused of seeking to protect their national operators in the past.
But Marietje Schaake MEP, another member of the group, renewed the attack on the net-neutrality deal, saying: "The compromise reached now is a watered-down version of the strong ambitions of the European Parliament."
Gunther Oettinger, the commissioner for the digital economy and society, defended the net-neutrality proposals as a "pragmatic" approach.
Jun 30, 2015, 11:54 am
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The full press releases are:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/e...-informal-deal
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release....htm?locale=en
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/e...-informal-deal
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release....htm?locale=en
Jun 30, 2015, 12:17 pm
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So will this mean, assuming that everything goes according to plan, that starting June 2017, if I have a SIM from any network registered in the EU (does this include the UK?), then I can use it from anywhere in the EU to call/SMS anywhere in the EU, all with whatever the "local" rate is (or free if on an unlimited plan)?
Jun 30, 2015, 1:22 pm
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So will this mean, assuming that everything goes according to plan, that starting June 2017, if I have a SIM from any network registered in the EU (does this include the UK?), then I can use it from anywhere in the EU to call/SMS anywhere in the EU, all with whatever the "local" rate is (or free if on an unlimited plan)?
However, there will be rules to prevent abuses of the new set-up. For example, if a user buys SIM card in another EU country where domestic prices are lower and then uses it at home. Or if a user permanently stays abroad with a domestic subscription from their home country. These instances are “permanent roaming” and could impact domestic markets negatively, said the commission.
Jun 30, 2015, 2:39 pm
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Problem is that those fees will need to be made up somewhere else. Most likely in the basic rates. This means that those who are "power users" of roaming will likely save, while the average user who either never roams or roams rarely, will see a hefty increase.
Sort of like the German decision to require the sale of tickets which permit the use of segments out-of-order. Sure, the tickets are available, but they are far from a bargain.
What remains to be seen is how the consumer does.
Sort of like the German decision to require the sale of tickets which permit the use of segments out-of-order. Sure, the tickets are available, but they are far from a bargain.
What remains to be seen is how the consumer does.
Jul 1, 2015, 3:17 am
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Problem is that those fees will need to be made up somewhere else. Most likely in the basic rates. This means that those who are "power users" of roaming will likely save, while the average user who either never roams or roams rarely, will see a hefty increase.
Sort of like the German decision to require the sale of tickets which permit the use of segments out-of-order. Sure, the tickets are available, but they are far from a bargain.
What remains to be seen is how the consumer does.
Sort of like the German decision to require the sale of tickets which permit the use of segments out-of-order. Sure, the tickets are available, but they are far from a bargain.
What remains to be seen is how the consumer does.
I've had unlimited phone roaming in Europe for a couple of years now. But I buy one of the most expensive plans and quadruple play. Yet my quadruple play still costs less than the cell phone only plans of my US colleagues.
Jul 1, 2015, 3:24 am
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I have no doubt that we will see some rate increases at the bottom end of the scale but I suspect that they will be very limited for normal contract customers.
When 3 introduced roaming abroad as an included service a couple of years ago (I was incredibly lucky - I'd just signed up with them because they offered a significantly cheaper package, and then this came along allowing me to use my phone extensively in the USA for no cost), I noticed that they followed it up with across the board rate increases (disguised, for sure, but they no longer offer the bargains) so that they are now one of the more expensive of the operators.
When 3 introduced roaming abroad as an included service a couple of years ago (I was incredibly lucky - I'd just signed up with them because they offered a significantly cheaper package, and then this came along allowing me to use my phone extensively in the USA for no cost), I noticed that they followed it up with across the board rate increases (disguised, for sure, but they no longer offer the bargains) so that they are now one of the more expensive of the operators.
Jul 1, 2015, 3:43 am
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lhrsfo is right. I can't see Three UK continuing to offer it's 3p/min, 2p/text & 1p/MB deal on prepaid any more if it has to charge these same prices throughout the EU. Also with prepaid it's very easy to switch providers every month or two whenever one reaches the roaming fair usage limit. Of course, we don't yet know the periods over which these fair usage limits will be applied, but the principle is the same.
Jul 1, 2015, 4:43 am
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YAY!
That would make traveling so much easier in the EU.
I don't see them changing the prices in Poland as there are so many competitors and all of them offer very similar rates. I could see them enforcing this kinda like Tmobile USA does with their unlimited roaming in which you need to be local for a certain amount of time between roaming (I think its 2 weeks roaming or so for 2 weeks at home?) which would prevent those buying up SIMs in other countries.
That would make traveling so much easier in the EU.
I don't see them changing the prices in Poland as there are so many competitors and all of them offer very similar rates. I could see them enforcing this kinda like Tmobile USA does with their unlimited roaming in which you need to be local for a certain amount of time between roaming (I think its 2 weeks roaming or so for 2 weeks at home?) which would prevent those buying up SIMs in other countries.
Jul 1, 2015, 2:43 pm
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The bigger deal is that this is all tied to Net Neutrality. So the operators won't be able to prioritize certain Internet flows over others.
Jul 2, 2015, 12:30 am
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You sure about that? Right now they prioritize ADSL and fiber optic TV at the ATM layer. So it's not Internet TV. And I'm pretty sure they aren't supposed to prioritize IP streaming, Youtube, etc.