The extension of the Roaming Regulation should find consensus, but negotiations on the final rules will not be without obstacles
A successful regulation that the EU wants to keep: The EU Roaming Regulation is undoubtedly one of the success stories of the EU in recent years. Allowing EU citizens to use their phone across the EU at no extra cost has proved extremely popular, and has brought to an end the time when people would switch their smartphone off when abroad, to avoid hefty bills. The Regulation had a sunset date – 30 June 2022 – which gave the European Commission the opportunity to review it.
Some expected tweaks: The consultations and reports on the Regulation published by the EC during 2020 gave a flavour of what to expect from the review. The proposal announced yesterday strengthens consumer safeguards in a number of areas highlighted by the 2020 consultation, such as improving transparency on how to access emergency services while roaming. It also removes the provisions on decoupling, which would have allowed customers to buy roaming from a separate provider but were never taken up due to the implementation of RLAH. Aspects related to permanent roaming for IoT and M2M services are also clarified, with operators expected to accept permanent roaming for these devices.
Agreeing on the final text will not be without obstacles: Two noteworthy changes in the new proposal are the introduction of QoS requirements and the reduction of wholesale rates. On the first, the Commission appears to have listened to consumer groups such as BEUC, whereas operators suggested in the 2020 consultation that a transparency obligation would be sufficient. Experience from previous years suggests that almost half of the operators (46% according to BEREC) did not offer the same level of service that customers get at home, even where available (e.g. roaming on 4G). With regard to wholesale charges, data prices should go down from the current €2.5/GB to €1.5/GB in 2025. This could be a stumbling block in the negotiation of the final text between member states in the Council, and in the trilogue negotiations that will follow, as was the case ahead of adopting the 2015 Regulation. The general political will to keep the Regulation in place, combined with the hard deadline of June 2022, may be enough for stakeholders to find a compromise and reach a deal.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_653
