Mobile phone roaming fees will be eliminated across the EU by June 2017, following an agreement between the European Parliament and Council.
Under the agreement, which followed 12 hours of negotiation in the early hours of yesterday morning, mobile phone users will pay the same price for calls, texts and mobile data whether at home or travelling anywhere in the EU.
Moreover, as soon as April 2016, operators will only be able to charge a small additional amount to domestic prices, up to €0.05 per minute for calls, €0.02 per SMS sent, and €0.05 per megabyte of data.
This maximum roaming charge is about 75 per cent cheaper than the current roaming caps, according to the European Commission, which has been pushing for the measure for two years.
Roaming providers will, however, be able to apply a fair use limit to prevent abuse – such as buying a cheaper SIM from a neighbouring country – past which they will be allowed to charge a basic fee.
Benny Borg Bonello, president of the Malta Consumers’ Association, told Times of Malta the move would be very positive for consumers as it represented a further step towards a single market.
“Consumers always benefit from a single market, especially in the telecommunications market where we don’t have strong competition,” he said.
“Liberalisation still hasn’t brought about the fruits it should have, with the benefits of competition not being passed on to consumers. If we really had a single market, and consumers could buy services from other countries, prices and standards would be a lot more favourable.”
Mr Borg Bonello expressed fears, however, that operators could raise domestic prices to make up for the shortfall, which he said would be similar to what had happened in the banking sector with the removal of international transaction fees.
Consumers always benefit from a single market
MEP Roberta Metsola, a member of the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Affairs Committee, welcomed the agreement, which she described as good news for consumers and businesses.
“I am delighted that there is finally an agreement and a concrete date to end this outdated and unfair business practice that so many people have wanted gone,” Dr Metsola said.
“We would have preferred had the charges been phased out completely even this year, but this is a delicate compromise and some states needed a transitional period to implement this fully.”
The agreement also includes the first EU-wide rules on net neutrality, under which operators will have to treat all traffic equally when providing internet access services, and paid prioritisation will not be allowed.
Blocking or throttling will be allowed only in a limited number of circumstances, for instance to counter child pornography and cyber-attacks or to prevent traffic congestion.
Operators will, however, be able to offer specialised services of higher quality, such as Internet TV.