The removal of roaming charges in the EU as from today is clearly going to have an impact on the revenue of providers across the EU who have been trying to come up with appropriate packages. But the complex rules about tariff plans have confused many consumers, who are being told their current package does not qualify and are being offered a different one.

The Malta Communications Authority chief of operations Ian Agius explained that there are number of issues that consumers need to understand, such as the impact on packages for free calls within the same network and unlimited data use.

It has taken over a decade but as from today, people in the EU can finally use their mobile phones anywhere else in the EU and European Economic Area – paying the same rate for calls, texts and data as they would at home.

Roam Like at Home is the final stage of a process which saw roaming rates being systematically lowered since 2007, but which only really became possible when the Member States agreed on a fair use policy last December to prevent the abuse of providers with the most competitive rates (see box).

Roaming refers to the ability to use a local service when travelling – so it only applies when customers are overseas. This means international calls or texts from Malta are not affected by the changes and will still be charged differently to local calls.

“From now on, citizens who travel within the EU will be able to call, text and connect on their mobile devices at the same price as they pay at home.

“Eliminating roaming charges is one of the greatest and most tangible successes of the EU,” president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat on behalf of the Maltese presidency of the Council of the European Union and president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said in a joint statement.

“The European Union is about bringing people together and making their lives easier. The end of roaming charges is a true European success story.”

They explained that each time a European citizen crossed an EU border, be it for holidays, work, studies or just for a day, they used to have to worry about using their mobile phones and a high phone bill from the roaming charges when they came home.

Eliminating roaming charges is one of the greatest and most tangible successes of the EU

The Malta Communications Authority has prepared a comprehensive guide, available on its website, which explains that in certain circumstances, providers can apply a data limit, for example – although if you have an unlimited data bundle, your operators “must provide you with a large volume of Roam Like at Home data, depending on the price of your data bundle.

Local operator Melita, for example, reassured customers that allowances for calls, SMS or data which are either free or charged at a discounted rate would be counted exactly as if customers were in Malta, and any charges for use over their monthly allowances would be at standard local rates.

However, it warned that Maltese mobile networks only work within the Maltese islands: “When a customer leaves Malta, they’ll no longer be using these networks. So if a Melita customer has a mobile plan which includes special rates for calls to Melita numbers, any calls or SMSes while roaming in the EU will be charged as calls to other networks.”

Customers who do not travel may be worried that they will be subsidising others who do, and the MCA stressed that providers can offer a tariff plan which can only be used locally. However, it warns, you cannot then buy an ‘add-on’ which allows the use of roaming services.

For peace of mind, customers will still receive an optional welcome notification when they arrive in another country confirming the rates for calls, texts and data. “Your mobile operator may offer other roaming packages in addition to the RLAH tariff. Such packages may exceed the RLAH charges, but on the other hand, the package may be more beneficial to your specific requirements.

“Hence it is advisable to visit the service providers’ website to contact them,” the MCA said.

The MCA itself can be contacted on 2133 6840 or customercare@mca.org.mt.

What is fair use?

One unintended consequence of roaming could have been for consumers to buy a service from a provider in another country where rates were lower than Malta’s – and then use it here.

This has been curtailed through the so-called fair use policy.

“The Nordic countries have very well priced tariffs. So strictly speaking, you could apply for a mobile in Finland, paying the Finnish tariff, which is a pittance, and use it in Malta, as there would be no roaming fees,” Malta Communications Authority chairman Edward Woods explained recently.

“That would kill local operators, which is certainly not something we want! So there are safeguards built in, restricting your use of that tariff to a certain number of days, for example, and once that period is up, you need to pay the local rates.”

The MCA guidelines explain that a service provider is entitled to stop a customer from using the Roam Like at Home tariffs if, for example, a customer’s usage pattern for four consecutive months indicates that the customer’s roaming use is higher than domestic use.

From start till end of roaming charges

October 2005: European Commission launches consumer website on roaming tariffs.

June 2007: European Parliament and the Council of Ministers approves maximum rates that can be charged by mobile network operators.

2009: The expiry date of the 2007 regulation is extended to June 2012 and to text messages and data roaming.

2014: European Parliament approves the abolition of roaming charges.

November 2015: Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 provides for the phased reduction of roaming charges within the EU.

December 2016: Fair use policy is approved on the permanent use of networks by non-residents.

January 2017: European Parliament and Member States reach agreement on wholesale roaming caps.