One of the EU’s biggest success stories will continue. For it to function well, travel patterns will need to resume to pre-pandemic levels
The political will meant its future was never really in doubt: The European Parliament and Council have reached a political agreement to extend the EU Roaming Regulation. The agreement is perhaps unsurprising, due to the importance of preserving one of the most evident success stories of the EU for its citizens. However, it was not to be taken for granted, given contrasting interests between member states and the need to reach a deal quickly to avoid the expiry of the Regulation in July 2022. It’s now valid for another 10 years, until 2032.
Consumers will be able to roam on 4G and 5G where possible: The new agreement addresses one of the problems identified by the EC in its review of the Regulation in 2020, which found that almost half of the operators were not roaming on 4G even where it was available. Customers will now be entitled to the same quality and speed of service they enjoy at home, wherever available – including on 5G. Access to emergency services, including caller location, will be guaranteed free of charge.
Wholesale price caps are reduced further: A new glidepath has been agreed for wholesale roaming price caps. For data, these will fall from €2/GB in 2022 to €1/GB from 2027 onwards. This is a significant aspect of the Regulation because of the need to consider different national interests. It was one of the main obstacles to overcome when the Regulation was first approved in 2015, when countries with a large influx of travellers and Europe’s largest operators were advocating for high price caps, whereas MVNOs were most vocal about low price caps. This was reflected in different positions in the negotiations between member states.
The EU needs a return to normal for this to work: In its first five years the Regulation worked relatively well. Wholesale prices for data sat well below price caps, and the number of operators requesting a derogation to apply retail surcharges was limited and became less common over time. This means that the vast majority of the operators have been able to offer RLAH in a sustainable way. However, this was in a world where people could travel freely, and operators were able to charge low wholesale prices because of high volumes of traffic. COVID-19 has upset this balance, making the continued success of the Regulation dependent on a return to pre-pandemic travel patterns.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_6665
