Mobile Operators Come Into Compliance With EU Roaming Regulations

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

24 August 2007

The European Commission announced on Thursday that following the publication of its "name and shame" roaming benchmarking website earlier this month, all mobile operators have since informed the Commission of the Eurotariffs they are offering their customers, as required by the EU’s new Roaming Regulation.

In July 2006, the European Commission first proposed an EU Regulation to reduce mobile roaming charges within the EU by up to 70%, as an instrument to complete the internal market.

According to the EC:

"Despite the Commission's repeated calls to mobile operators, using mobile phones in other EU countries remains on average 4 times more expensive than domestic mobile phone calls – a difference particularly felt by tourists, and small and medium-sized companies with cross-border business activities. A consumer website on roaming tariffs from across the EU, a Commission led-transparency initiative, exposed flagrant roaming prices of up to 12 euro for a 4-minute call, but did not change the pricing behaviour of mobile operators. The Commission therefore proposed to intervene with regulations."

Commenting this week, Telecoms Commissioner, Viviane Reding announced that:

"As of today, thanks to the EU's continued pressure, consumers can now fully assess what's on offer across Europe as regards the new Eurotariffs for mobile roaming."

She continued:

"I note with satisfaction that all mobile operators now appear to comply with the law, and that also the few black sheep we noted three weeks ago have returned to the fold in the meantime. However, the fact that the picture is now complete does not mean that the job is done. Together with the national telecom regulators, the Commission will now look into the quality, transparency and consumer-friendliness of the new roaming offers. In autumn, this will allow us to assess whether there is now more competition in the roaming market and whether consumers actually get a better deal."

Overall, the introduction of the new EU Roaming Regulation appears to be proceeding smoothly, according to the EC. In 23 of the EU Member States, there is at least one operator offering roaming tariffs below the new regulation's ceilings. Most mobile operators have also offered or activated a Eurotariff before the regulation's deadlines.

In October, the Commission, together with the European Regulators Group, will make a more detailed and qualitative assessment of the transition to the Eurotariff.

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