Roaming: All mobile operators have now informed the Commission of their new Eurotariffs
Following the Commission's publication of its "name and shame" roaming benchmarking website on 2 August, 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. All these Eurotariffs are now listed on the Commission's website. For mobile customers roaming in Europe, the first result is quite positive: In 23 of the 27 EU Member States, there is at least one mobile operator offering roaming tariffs below the regulation's ceilings.
"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," said Viviane Reding, EU Telecom Commissioner. "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."
The Commission's website, launched on 2 August, lists the Eurotariff on offer per operator in all 27 EU Member States (see IP/07/1202). The table is based on responses to a questionnaire sent in mid-July to 95 mobile operators in the EU. Initially the Commission received 74 responses. Some operators only later informed the Commission about their offers or corrected the information they had sent. Today, with the last two operators - Estonia's EMT and Cyprus' Areeba - having communicated their offer to the Commission, the EU-wide overview is now complete.
Overall, the introduction of the new EU Roaming Regulation appears to be proceeding smoothly. 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. The results will be important in view of the evaluation that the Commission must present to the European Parliament and to the EU Council of Ministers by 30 December 2008.
Background:
The new EU Roaming Regulation (in force since 30 June 2007) requires mobile operators to make available, and actively offer, a Eurotariff to their customers by 30 July (see IP/07/870). It states that roaming charges should not exceed €0.49 for making and €0.24 for receiving calls abroad (excluding VAT). Operators are encouraged to compete with cheaper prices below the ceilings, as has happened in 23 Member States so far.
Once a customer accepts the offered Eurotariff, the operator has one month maximum to activate this tariff. Consumers who do not react will be automatically switched to the Eurotariff on 30 September unless they had previously subscribed to a special roaming package.
For full details, see the Commission´s roaming website:
http://ec.europa.eu/roaming .
The European Regulators Group has published specific guidelines to accompany the transition to the new roaming tariffs at:
http://erg.eu.int/whatsnew/ .
The Commission's benchmarking of EU mobile operators is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/implementation/benchmark
Reproduced with the permjssion of the European Commission REF ip/07/1247