EU may end all roaming charges

[wco81]

Andrus Ansip, the former PM of Estonia who is now the EU commissioner for crafting a single digital market strategy, supports ending roaming charges as soon as possible.

However, this roaming charges issue seems to be tied to the debate about net neutrality. The European Parliament is for net neutrality while the Germans appears to be for prioritization of "special services."

It doesn't sound like the EU bodies have much clout other than advisory roles on this issue. Sounds like ultimately, the member govts. will make the final decision.

In Europe, governments have taken a softer approach. This month they agreed to allow telecom operators to charge premiums for certain Internet services, such as online television, to guarantee speedy connections—provided the Internet connection for the majority of users wasn’t impaired by such deals.

That position, and a decision to leave mobile-phone roaming charges in place until at least 2018, sets up a clash with the European Parliament over the bloc’s telecom market overhaul. EU lawmakers have advocated strict rules on net neutrality that would force Internet service providers to treat all traffic equally, and have called for an end to mobile roaming fees by year-end.

For the plans to become law, national governments must thrash out a compromise deal with the European Parliament and with the commission. The commission, which made the initial proposal, can also withdraw it if it is unhappy with the direction the negotiations have taken.

In calling for “strong net-neutrality rules,” Mr. Ansip seemed to side with the parliament—and against Günther Oettinger, his fellow EU commissioner and Germany’s powerful representative in Brussels.

“We need an open Internet for consumers...no blocking or throttling,” Mr. Ansip said.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/eus-digi...ity-1427215501