EU may end all roaming charges

[wco81]

So are Western Europeans going to get some cheap Romanian PAYG SIMs and roam in the rich countries?

[NFH]

Originally Posted by wco81

So are Western Europeans going to get some cheap Romanian PAYG SIMs and roam in the rich countries?

No, if you read the Q&A, you will see "The rules prevent abusive uses: for example, if the customer buys a SIM card in another EU country where domestic prices are lower to use it at home; or if the customer permanently stays abroad with a domestic subscription of his home country. This is not the usual use of roaming as the vast majority of Europeans experience it. These unusual behaviours are also called 'permanent roaming' and could have a negative impact on domestic prices, and ultimately on consumers. This is why there is a fair use safeguard. Once that limit is reached while being abroad, a small basic fee can be charged. This will be much lower than current caps (maximum prices that operators can charge consumers for roaming in the EU) and is likely to decrease even further. The Commission has been mandated to define the details of the fair use limit."

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by wco81

So are Western Europeans going to get some cheap Romanian PAYG SIMs and roam in the rich countries?

well, this happens even today. I know several of my friends who use their german BLAU or SIMYO payg in netherlands or in france permanently because they can call the whole EU for 9ct/min and have free inbound calls. Except internet usage this is in many cases much cheaper than using domestic cards. So far only one provider in germany has a clause that limits the time abroad and takes the right to charge higher rates if exceed - effectively also not enforcing this rule yet.