EU may end all roaming charges

[NFH]

The full press releases are:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/e...-informal-deal

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release....htm?locale=en

[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."

[wco81]

The other thing is that a lot of PAYG products do not include 4G access either.

So if you get an Easter European SIM which only includes 2G and 3G on the home network, I would imagine you'd only get 2G and 3G roaming in a Western European country.

[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.

[wolfbln]

We have moved a giant step forward, but have not reached the goal yet.

1.) New roaming caps from May 2016
2ct per SMS and 5 ct per MB data (plus taxes). For data at least it's a huge advancement. We are right now at 0.20 € per MB effective at €0.23/MB and will go down to somewhere near €0.06/MB. That's still more than data in national packages, but often less than the domestic default rate of providers. SMS rates will be in fact mostly below domestic rates.

2.) "Abolition" of roaming charges in 2017?
This is still unclear. We may get rid of all roaming charges in 2017 but only under certain conditions. "Permanent" roaming will not be possible on the new tariff without roaming fees. But really getting rid of all roaming charges per definition necessarily means and enables "permanent" roaming.

So it's very much up to the fine print, the EU institutions have yet to agree on.
It's sad but true: new limits for the tariffs without roaming fees will probably be established, a kind of EU Fair Use Policy:
- either for a max. volume of minutes, SMS' or MBs anyone can use on that tariff
- or a max. period of time anyone can use his/her domestic rate on roaming (e.g. per year).

Data is sold at very different rates in the various EU countries. In Cyprus more than 20 times as much is charged compared to the Baltic states.
So there will be pressure to break these rules using SIM cards from another country permanently.
One way to break these rules/limts can possibly be a "rotating" system of e.g. different data SIM cards to be used on roaming.

The worst case for the EU consumer would be a very low allowance of "free" roaming volume (actually meaning roaming at the domestic rates) and everything consumed beyond will be charged much higher. In the negotiations a 100 MB limit was mentioned which is just a joke in these days. If the 2016 caps are maintained in 2017 and later, the surcharges will at least be limited lower.

So let's celebrate for 2016 and wait what is yet to come for 2017.

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by wolfbln

We have moved a giant step forward, but have not reached the goal yet.

1.) New roaming caps from May 2016
2ct per SMS and 5 ct per MB data (plus taxes). For data at least it's a huge advancement. We are right now at 0.20 € per MB effective at €0.23/MB and will go down to somewhere near €0.06/MB. That's still more than data in national packages, but often less than the default rate of national providers. SMS rates will be in fact mostly below national rates.

you missed that the 2ct/min or 5ct/MB is the surcharge to the national tariffs, not the end customer rate.

[wolfbln]

Hi dg7feq

I've just realized the same, but it's really hard to believe.
Up to now, we had caps, that the EU imposed on roaming.
For data in 2014/5 it is 20ct per MB plus tax.

In the new decision, they don't speak about caps but surcharges:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release...15-5275_en.htm

Quote: As from April 2016, prices will be even cheaper: operators will be able to charge a small additional amount to domestic prices up to €0.05 per minute of call made, €0.02 per SMS sent, and €0.05 per MB of data (excl. VAT).

If this is true, the reporting on most news wires was wrong: no new lower CAPS, but a limit to SURCHARGES for roaming.

But this absolutely backfires in many markets:
In Germany and some other markets domestic data for instance are sold at a very high default rate up to €0.24 per MB. That's sometimes even above the current roaming cap of €0.20 plus tax. If no new CAPS are to be introduced, but they are replaced by limits to SURCHARGES which will be limited to €0.05 per MB, they can even charge €0.30 per MB (€0.24 domestic rate + €0.06 surcharge) because it's always referred to the default data rate.
There is no obligation to offer packages. Furthermore, offering roaming packages can even become dangerous for the providers, as they may refer to a domestic package. Then as far as I understand the surcharge principle, data must not be more than 5ct/MB more expensive. But how do you calculate a surcharge limit, when you don't have a equal domestic package on offer? You can only use the default data rate of the provider.

I hope this is not going to be true!!!

[dg7feq]

Yes, most websites overlooked the smallprint and just copied the first few lines.
For the customer this can indeed be a sharp increase in pricing, especially for international calling within EU, which is currently also included in the capped pricing - but often very high in our domestic tariffs.

[NFH]

Originally Posted by wolfbln

In Germany and some other markets domestic data for instance are sold at a very high default rate up to €0.24 per MB. That's sometimes even above the current roaming cap of €0.20 plus tax. If no new CAPS are to be introduced, but they are replaced by limits to SURCHARGES which will be limited to €0.05 per MB, they can even charge €0.30 per MB (€0.24 domestic rate + €0.06 surcharge) because it's always referred to the default data rate.
There is no obligation to offer packages. Furthermore, offering roaming packages can even become dangerous for the providers, as they may refer to a domestic package. Then as far as I understand the surcharge principle, data must not be more than 5ct/MB more expensive. But how do you calculate a surcharge limit, when you don't have a equal domestic package on offer? You can only use the default data rate of the provider.

You have misunderstood. The network can charge you only €0.05+VAT per megabyte on top of what you usually pay. For example, if your network charges you €7 for 1GB, then any roaming usage still uses up your 1GB allowance but your network can surcharge you €0.05+VAT per megabyte on top of this.

Except for the €0.05/MB surcharge, if the network applies a different price for roaming from the price for domestic usage (and a different price includes non-application of bundles and allowances), then it would be in breach of the new regulations. The regulations make no distinction between bundled charges and incremental charges; they are both enforceable as domestic charges when roaming.