EE Scrap Roaming Fees In Tariff Refresh
Stephanie Dejoode
Since 2007, the roaming regulations have steadily lowered the maximum roaming charges allowable. In December 2016, the representatives of the Member States voted to abolish all roaming charges by June 2017[1] which eventually led to the abolition of all roaming charges for temporary roaming within the EEA as of 15 June 2017.
Provisions regulating roaming charges are contained in several regulations: Regulation No 531/2012[2] on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union, Regulation 2015/2120[3] and Regulation 2017/920[4] amending it, as well as Regulation 2016/2286[5] laying down detailed rules on the application of the fair use policy and Regulation 2021/2228[6] setting the weighted average of maximum mobile termination rates. As regards rules for wholesale roaming market, these are amended by Regulation 2017/920.[7] Originally due to expire after 30 June 2022, a 10-year extension was agreed upon in April 2022. The current roaming regulation expires after 30 June 2032.[8]
In 2006, when high roaming charge rates persisted the Commission proposed to intervene in the market by setting maximum rates at which mobile network operators could charge their subscribers. The proposed regulation was approved by the European Parliament and by the Council of Ministers, and came into law in June 2007. It required capping of retail and wholesale voice roaming charges from 30 August 2007, unless a special roaming tariff applied. The maximum prices was set to decrease further in 2008 and 2009. The regulation also required that customers travelling to another member state would receive a text message of the charges that apply for roaming services.[10] Originally the capping measures were introduced on a temporary basis and were due to expire on 30 June 2010.[11]
The law was amended in 2009 based on a review carried out under the 2007 regulation. The expiry date of the 2007 regulation was extended to 30 June 2012 and was extended to text messages and data roaming. It also provided for further annual reductions in the price capping until the expiry of the regulation and for compulsory per-second billing after 30 seconds for calls made, and per-second billing throughout for calls received.
Having still found that market conditions did not justify lifting the capping of roaming within the EEA, the EU replaced the law in 2012. Under the 2012 regulation retail roaming capping charges expired in 2017[12] and wholesale capping charges expired in 2022.[13]
In 2013 the Commission proposed to establish a single market for electronic communications within the Union and to abolish roaming charges.[14] The proposal was approved by the European Parliament on 3 April 2014, by a margin of 534 votes to 25. As drafted it would have ended roaming charges from 15 December 2015.[15] The Council of the European Union has to approve legislation before it can take effect,[16] and ended up rejecting the specifics of the proposed legislation.
Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 which was adopted on 25 November 2015 provided for the phased reduction of roaming charges within the European Union. As a transitional measure, from May 2016 the existing price capping for roaming within the EEA was replaced by a maximum surcharge for roaming services which may be charged in addition to domestic charges.[17] This however would not increase the cost of roaming for customers whose domestic rates plus the surcharge resulted in a higher price than the existing price caps.[18] It reduced the charges for consumers with lower domestic prices or who pay for monthly allowances for using a particular service.
The Regulation also required the commission to submit a report to the European Parliament by June 2016 along with proposed legislative for regulation of the wholesale roaming market within the EU with a view to eliminating the transitional roaming surcharges by June 2017.[19] Following the proposal made by the commission, the European Parliament and Member States reached an agreement on 31 January 2017 to set the subsequent wholesale roaming caps from 15 June 2017:[20]
To prevent misuse (i.e. cheaper tariffs available in the western members to be used constantly in the eastern members where tariffs are higher) a fair-use policy was mandated which would allow EEA citizens to use their phones while roaming without extra charges for business and leisure, but would still limit the use to prevent misuse and extra costs to mobile operators.
The initial proposal for a fair use policy was published on 5 September 2016. It would have limited the amount of free roaming to 90 days in a calendar year and a maximum of 30 consecutive days, after which regulated roaming charges (now in force) would apply. Registering in your home network on a given day would not count that day towards the limit. The proposal also stated that "the customer should nevertheless be able to consume volumes of such services equivalent to at least the average volume consumed domestically by the customers of the tariff plan in question", preventing operators from setting low call/data limits.
However, the proposal was hastily withdrawn just a couple of days after being published. Only a note on the commission's web site remained: "An initial draft was published on 5.9.2016. The Commission services have, on the instruction of President Juncker, withdrawn the draft and are working on a new version"[22]).
The proposal was also slammed by the telco lobbyists (GSMA & ETNO) claiming it would have been "..too complex to implement and unclear for consumers." They were inclined to set the cap lower, believing a "30 consecutive days granted to each consumer within the proposal would have already covered 100% of the needs of the vast majority of European citizens." Also, legal concerns were cited stating that "In Denmark, for example, the maximum length of a contract is six months, so customers would have been able to 'reset' their roaming allowance twice a year."
Finally, it was suggested to come up with a new proposal that would be "easy to execute, and effectively prevent arbitrage and distortions on domestic markets" and warning by quoting the Commission that "Otherwise, network quality and investments in new capacity in some Member States could be affected".[23]
Swedish operator Comviq removed roaming services on its plan "Fastpris mini" 15 June 2017.[27] The operator Hallon is doing the same to its smallest plan "LITEN" starting 1 October 2017.[28] In Denmark, operator Telmore introduced "TELMORE Home" without roaming services, even when travelling to countries outside the EEA.[29] Vodafone UK introduced "UK-only plans" that disallow roaming altogether.[30] This is possible because, while the Regulation disallows operators from charging extra for roaming when available, it does not force them to make roaming available in the first place.
Mobile operators in the EEA are also using "loopholes" in the Regulation to retain roaming charges. Operators can continue to impose surcharges if they can substantiate to the national regulators that they are unable to recover their "actual or projected costs" of providing roaming services.[31]
AGcom, the Italian communications regulator has told Italian operators Vodafone, Telecom Italia and Lycamobile they must comply with all aspects of the roaming regulations, as they believed some features were not being universally applied.[32] In Sweden, the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority has started investigating whether Comviq is in compliance with the roaming regulations. For prepaid cards, Comviq requires customers to top up an "EU package" costing approximately twice as much as a domestic one.[33] O2 UK has admitted it temporarily throttled roaming speeds across Europe following the abolition of roaming charges.[34]
The European Union roaming regulations only regulate prices while the user is roaming. In 2013, the European commission proposed to regulate intra-EEA international calls, but it was rejected by the European Parliament and Council.[37]
In 2018, the EU Parliament and Council (EU co-legislators) provisionally agreed on a reform of EU telecom rules. According to the provisional deal, the fees for intra-EU calls are capped to 19 cents for phone calls and 6 cents for text messages by 2019. Once the Parliament and the Council approve the provisional deal, Member States will have two years to transpose the Electronic Communications Code into national law.[38][39]
European Union roaming regulations apply to the 30 members of the European Economic Area; the 27 members of the EU and their outermost regions[42] plus three EFTA member states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The EU countries have applied the roaming regulation since 30 August 2007 while the remaining EEA countries have applied it since 1 January 2008.
At the Sofia summit in May 2018, Western Balkan countries agreed to reduce roaming costs among themselves, and the EU pledged to develop a roadmap to reduce the roaming costs between the EU and the countries in the Western Balkans; Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.[45] In Skopje on 18 February 2019, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Mariya Gabriel confirmed that once the Western Balkans reaches the new agreement on roaming prices among its economies, the EU stands ready for the reduction of tariffs between the WB and the EU.[46] On 4 April 2019, at the 2nd Western Balkans Digital Summit in Belgrade, the Western Balkan Ministers for Telecommunications signed the Regional Roaming Agreement which would gradually remove all roaming costs in the region. The agreement came into effect on 1 July 2019, enabling significantly lower roaming charges in the Western Balkans.[47] Since 1 July 2021, all roaming tariffs have been removed, meaning no surcharge to the domestic retail price for calls, SMS & data while roaming in Western Balkans, similar to the concept of "Roam like at Home".[48][49][50] The gradual reduction of the roaming costs between Western Balkans and European Economic Area started 2023, which will eventually lead to a roaming free zone beyond the EEA's borders in 2027.[51]
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