View Single Post
Old
  (#63)
wco81 (Offline)
Senior Member
Prepaid Expert
 
Posts: 304
Join Date: 17 Jun 2007

Country:
Default 05-03-2015, 15:38

Well the telecoms are apparently striking back.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31748592

Quote:
European regulators have dropped plans to ban roaming charges and have proposed net neutrality rules allowing privileged access in some cases.

They called for an "intermediate step" that would still allow carriers to charge more to use mobiles abroad.

And net neutrality rules would bar discrimination in internet access, but allow prioritisation of some services.

The proposals were a significant departure from those first floated in 2013, observers said.

According to documents seen by the BBC, far from ending data roaming charges as was promised, the European Commission has recommended that operators be allowed to add surcharges to their domestic rates.

The proposals were said to be "transitional" and mindful of "wholesale costs" incurred by the mobile operators.

But, according to Ovum analyst Matthew Howett, they would amount to the continuation of data roaming charges until at least 2018, when European lawmakers would reconsider whether or not to ban them.

The watering down of the original plan would be a blow to consumers, he told the BBC. However, he said, that was tempered by the fact that many operators had already introduced more reasonable charges.
   
Reply With Quote