European Union roaming regulations

Some of the telecommunications are regulated by the European Union.

General regulation

• Directive 2002/20/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2002-03-07 on the authorisation of electronic communications (Authorisation Directive).
• Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services (Framework Directive).
• Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 2000/31/EC of 2000-06-08 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce).

Regulation on voice roaming charges

Template:EU regulation The Regulation (EC) No 717/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2007 on roaming on public mobile telephone networks within the Community and amending Directive 2002/21/EC is a regulation by the European Commission, primarily backed by Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, which regulates the charges of mobile phone use when abroad in the EU. The regulation caps the rates operators can charge each other while roaming in the EU and also limits the tariffs an operator can charge from customers.

The European Commission had repeatedly urged mobile operators to lower the charges for using mobile phones abroad. But they remained on average four times more expensive than domestic mobile phone calls. To highlight the continuing problem, the Commission launched a consumer website on roaming tariffs in October 2005. It exposed roaming prices of up to €12 euros for a 4-minute call. As even this did not change the pricing behaviour of mobile operators, the Commission proposed to intervene by regulating. The proposal for a regulation to lower international roaming charges within the EU was published by the Commission July, 2006.

How does it work in practice

The regulation entered into force on June 30, 2007. From this date on, mobile phone operators within the European Union have one month (till July 31, 2007) to inform you about the new tariffs (called "Eurotariff") and provide an offer for switching to the new tariff. If you react to this offer, the mobile phone operator has to switch you to the new tariff within one month maximum. If you don't react, the new tariff will be automatically applied on September 30, 2007, unless you have a special roaming package.

If you have already a special roaming package, you will be able to keep it. If you want to switch to the new tariffs, you will have to inform your operator.

The Eurotariff

The maximum retail roaming tariffs (called "Eurotariff") set by the regulation are described in the table below. The ceilings or Eurotariffs will gradually decrease over the next three years. Operators will be able to compete below this level. The caps below are specified on a per minute basis and without VAT (as in the regulation):

	Summer 2007	Summer 2008	Summer 2009
Maximum cost for making	49 cent	46 cent	43 cent
Maximum cost for receiving	24 cent	22 cent	19 cent

A Eurotariff will be available in all 27 Member States of the European Union. It applies only to voice calls within the EU – no matter if you are a pre-paid or post-paid customer. It does not apply to other mobile phone services, such as SMS, MMS or data transfer.

The regulation caps roaming prices for voice services only but it also requires national regulators to monitor developments in the prices of roamed voice, SMS and data services closely. The Commission calls on mobile operators to demonstrate their willingness to voluntarily reduce the very high roaming charges for SMS and data roaming.

Switching to a Eurotariff is free of charge with no effect on your existing mobile phone contract.

Thanks to the new EU law, you will in future also know exactly what you pay when you use your mobile abroad. You will receive an SMS when crossing the border to another EU Member State informing you of the price for making and receiving calls. This message will be free. You will also be able to seek more detailed prices by SMS or over the phone.

Duration

The regulation is meant to expire in three years. The Commission, together with the National Regulatory Authorities will monitor the development of the prices over the next 18 months. If normal market conditions have been established in the market for roaming calls, the regulation will expire after three years. However, the Commission can also propose to continue to regulate the roaming market, if normal market conditions are not working yet.

Public consultation

The public consultation will be open until 2 July 2008. The Commission is calling for comments on the review of the Roaming Regulation and its possible extension to SMS and data roaming services. In 39 questions, it seeks stakeholders' input on the general functioning of the Roaming Regulation, as well as on specific issues such as:

• Inadvertent roaming or involuntary roaming when consumers use their mobile phone close to the border of a neighbouring country and are connected to a foreign network.
• The effect of the Regulation on smaller operators and on domestic prices (e.g. whether the regulation has led to an increase in domestic prices
• The issue of actual and billed minutes (e.g. whether there has been any change from per second to per minute billing as a result of the Regulation.
• The extension of the current Regulation in time.

In the consultation, the European Commission is also seeking input on whether regulation is necessary for data and SMS roaming services at wholesale and/or retail levels in light of current retail prices and market developments.

Extension of the Regulation on SMS and data roaming charges

SMS and Data deadline

A regulation on SMS and Data is currently being studied by the EU Commission. The deadline for the Telecom Operators to lower their tariffs is July 1 2008. A regulation with retail and wholesale caps is foreseen.

Rates

For SMS, according to the EU Commission, the retail price for sending a text message abroad should not more than 2 or 3 cents more expensive than sending an SMS domestically. This can be explained by the fact that text messages are a mature market and with a very low marginal cost.

For Data, no specific retail rate has been communicated by the EU Commission. However, transparency (to avoid bill shocks), an EU Data Roaming option and the decrease of the wholesale rates to 0.5 or 0.25 cents per Megabyte are necessary.

Evolution

The regulation for the SMS looks quite certain following the latest ERG report (see external links). For Data, the regulation is for the moment uncertain.

Other

EEA relevance

The regulation specifies that this matter has relevance for the European Economic Area (EEA). This means that the tariffs caps apply to EEA member states (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) as of 1st of January 2008.

Exchange rates

For services paid for in currencies other than the euro, the reference rates posted by the ECB on the 29th of June, 2007 are used:

Currency	Rate (units per euro)
British pound sterling	0.67400
Bulgarian lev	1.9558
Cypriot pound	0.5837 (in euro from 2008)
Czech crown	28.718
Danish crown	7.4422
Estonian crown	15.6466
Hungarian forint	246.15
Lithuanian litas	3.4528
Latvian lats	0.6963
Maltese pound	0.4293 (in euro from 2008)
Polish złoty	3.7677
Romanian leu	3.1340
Swedish crown	9.2525
Slovakian crown	33.635 (in euro from 2009)

See also

• Communications Committee
• Mobile phone
• Roaming

External links

• Telecoms in the EU. European Commission.
• Reference Documents
• EU-website about the roaming charges regulation
• Commissioner Reding's Comments to the Press on Data Roaming (.pdf) (Barcelona, 11 February 2008)[1]
• ERG Report of 23rd of June 2008: [2]
• EU Public consultation May 2008:[3]