ACTIVITIES :: Roaming :: Roaming Regulation
The new proposal for reducing roaming prices
As from 1 July, costumers roaming in another EU Member State will not only benefit from lower prices for making and receiving calls but also for texting when abroad and using data services.
As required by the current roaming regulation, the Commission and national regulators have closely monitored price developments for text messages and data services. On the basis of such monitoring, the Commission reviewed the Regulation and decided to include text messages and data services.
The Commission's proposal of 23 September was agreed on in record time by the European Parliament and Council, enters into force on 1 July 2009 and:
- Limits the price for sending a text message while abroad at €0.11. Receiving an SMS in another EU country will remain free of charge.
- Reduces the cost of surfing the web and downloading movies or video programs with a mobile phone while abroad by introducing a maximum wholesale cap of €1 per megabyte downloaded. This limit will be decreased each year.
- The new rules will also protect consumers from "bill shocks" by introducing a cut-off mechanism once the bill reaches €50, unless they choose another cut-off limit (recently, a German downloading a TV programme while roaming in France faced a bill of €46,000). Operators have until March 2010 to put this cut-off limit in place.
- Further reduces prices for mobile roaming calls with a maximum tariff of €0.43 for making a call and €0.19 for receiving one.
- Introduce per second billing after the first 30 seconds for calls made and immediately for calls received.
- Ensure that citizens are kept adequately informed of the charges that apply for data roaming services.
The new rules extend the scope and duration of the EU Roaming Regulation, which already tackled, since 30 June 2007, the high costs for voice roaming abroad in the single market.
