EU roaming charges will be abolished by mid-2017
A complete ban on roaming charges for using mobile phones abroad in the EU will take effect in June 2017 and clear rules on the right to internet access will become law following today’s European Parliament legislation.
The days of crossing just a few miles over the border and suddenly being charged a fortune are not yet over but they are at least numbered. Today's news will be applauded by not only ordinary people but also struggling businesses who will be relieved of the extra cost being lifted.
“This abolition of roaming surcharges has been long awaited by everybody: ordinary people, start-ups, SMEs and all kinds of organisations,” said Pilar del Castillo (Spain), in the debate before the vote.
“Thanks to this agreement, Europe will also become the only region in world which legally guarantees open internet and net neutrality. The principle of net neutrality will be applied directly in the 28 member states. It also ensures that we will not have a two-speed internet,” she said.
Roaming fees for calling, sending text messages and using the mobile internet abroad in the EU will be banned from 15 June 2017.
From 30 April 2016 roaming surcharges, which are added to the base domestic price must not exceed:
€0.05 per minute for outgoing voice calls
€0.02 for text messages (SMS)
€0.05 per megabyte of mobile internet use
The cap on charges for incoming voice calls will be determined later this year and is expected to be considerably lower than for outgoing calls.
The new law will oblige firms offering internet access to treat all traffic equally, ie not to block or slow delivery of content, applications or services from selected senders or to selected receivers, unless this is necessary to obey court orders, comply with laws, prevent network congestion or combat cyber-attacks.
If such traffic management measures are needed, they will have to be “transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate” and may not last for longer than necessary.
An operator will nonetheless be able to offer specialized services, such as the improved internet quality needed for certain services but only on condition that this does not have an impact on general internet quality.