EU may end all roaming charges

[NFH]

Originally Posted by wolfbln

In Germany some providers actually use this as a marketing scoop: They "promise" to sell you data for the same rate domestically and within the EU. They do this with a trick: The standard or default domestic rate is put so high (at around 23c/MB) that it matches the EU cap rate. No word of packages, of course. I think that was their strategy to undermine a roaming surcharges ban, if it had been ordered by law.

This wouldn't comply with the proposed rules. The pricing has to be identical, meaning that if it's €10 for 1GB domestically, then it also has to be €10 for 1GB elsewhere in the EEA.

[wco81]

Are those for prepaid or postpaid?

A lot of prepaid bundles really don't allow for overages do they? You get a certain amount for a certain period and you're either throttled when you hit the cap or you have to wait and but another bundle?

[NFH]

Originally Posted by wco81

Are those for prepaid or postpaid?

Both. The proposed legislation makes no distinction between the timing of payment for the service.

[wco81]

Hmm so if I buy a 1 GB prepaid bundle for £10 in the UK and I go across the Chunnel with it, what exactly would happen? I have no credit left on the SIM so it wouldn't roam in France or Netherlands?

Or if I had credit, it would roam and draw down that credit? Would I have to change the APN?

[NFH]

The way in which the service is charged and the availability of the service would be the same, regardless of whether or not you had crossed the English Channel. If you had bought a bundle, then the usage would be taken from the bundle. If you hadn't bought a bundle, then it would use up credit. Your location within the EEA would not change this.

[wolfbln]

Well. We are talking about a proposal of the European Parliament which is not going to be reality, at least in the near future, i'm afraid.

The proposals of the Commission clearly favours the cellcos and is a slap in the face of the Parliament (and may be the consumer).

If it is really taking place one time, I think two things are going to happen:
- roaming will be severely restricted to own networks or partner networks only
- prices for data will go up in cheap countries like the Baltics or SE Europe and prices will fall in expensive countries.
Because a selective pricing for a specific EU state will not be feasible anymore. Users will take a real "unlimited" 4G data SIM card from e.g. Play in Poland and use it on its roaming partners somewhere else.
As a matter of fact, this is one of the few points of the telcos, I can comprehend.

[wco81]

Do politicians take a lot of money from business interests?

I didn't think they used a lot of expensive TV advertising for campaigns, so politicians wouldn't have to raise as much money as their US counterparts.

[andy]

From the BBC article:

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.

That doesn't temper it much, does it?

If someone asks on a UK forum which is the best SIM to use for calling 200 minutes and using a modest amount of data per month from 5 different EU countries, they might be a bit taken aback if one recommendation is Aldi from Germany.

They've been promised free incoming calls by the end of the year, and using their bundle from home abroad at no extra cost in the fairly near future.

Well, they thought they were. Reversing away from this position might take some explaining.

There's an election here soon. If the local MP knocks on the door again maybe that's another question to ask him.

[wolfbln]

"Do politicians take a lot of money from business interests?" I'm astonished to read these lines from America.

"There's an election here soon. If the local MP knocks on the door again maybe that's another question to ask him." Well, I've thought you wanted to leave the party altogether in the UK.

As this is not an option for Germany and roaming will persist for the next years and decades all around us, I decided to take my personal revenge.

Actually, this one guy is right. Some operators have come down with their rates. I decided, that it makes now sense to re-edit my recommendations for EU roaming data SIM cards. Some of them were initiated by members of this forum for which i'm really grateful.

The survey turned out to be a guidebook how to beat the rules of the providers, who doesn't want us to use this or that SIM card. Furthermore, it has been graphically improved now.

I hope you enjoy it. You may clear some typos or give more advice here or in the comments line of the Wiki. I'd appreciate your opinion, but remember, we focus on data on this WIKI which is the biggest ripoff on roaming right now.

LINK: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.c...European_Union

[andy]

Originally Posted by wolfbln

"There's an election here soon. If the local MP knocks on the door again maybe that's another question to ask him." Well, I've thought you wanted to leave the party altogether in the UK.

You might well get that impression, given the mysterious popularity of a certain party whose MEPs only turn up for work half the time, and the cowering of other parties in response, but not everyone wants to leave.