Thursday

28th Mar 2024

EU countries agree data roaming charges

  • (Photo: David van der Mark)

Member states agreed on Wednesday (26 October) on the future cost of the use of data for mobile operators when their customers travel in the EU, or so-called roaming.

From 15 June next year, operators will charge each other €1 cent the use of one megabyte by users when they are not in their country.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The charge will progressively go down to €0.5 cent per megabyte (c/MB) in 2021. On average, a megabyte will cost €0.85 c/MB. A review will take place in the meantime to set the long-term prices.

The agreement between EU ambassadors will have to be endorsed by ministers in December and then by the European Parliament as part of work to end roaming costs in June 2017.

The cost for operators of the end of roaming for users is crucial to make the flagship commission initiative work.


With smartphones overtaking traditional mobile phones, the cost of data use has become the main issue in the discussion.



The proposal, put forward by the Slovak presidency of the EU, made possible to square up the European Commission's suggestion - €0.85 c/MB - with positions from northern countries, who wanted a lower price, and form southern countries, who wanted a higher price.

The charge for calls, which is less controversial, will be dealt with at a technical level, while the charge for SMS-es was a "complete non-issue", a source said. The commission proposed a €4 c/min charge on calls and €1 cent per SMS.

Southern countries, which face peaks of users and data consumption in the summer tourist season, had concerns about their network capacities and the cost to maintain them.



As a compromise, ambassadors also agreed on a so-called ring-fenced sustainability mechanism that will allow countries to apply a surchage, limited to €0.85 c/MB, when they see big pressure on their system.

The discussion on wholesale charges comes in parallel to the discussion concerning the price for consumers.

In September, the commission presented and then withdrew a plan to limit free roaming to 90 days a year, and proposed instead to allow operators to apply surcharges on data, calls and SMS-es to customers who employ SIM cards from a country where they do not use it.

The proposal is due to be adopted in December.

EU redoubles attack on roaming charges

After an embarrassing U-turn last week, the EU commission has proposed to abolish roaming charges by June next year. Only "abusive" clients to pay.

'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told

Italian central banker Piero Cipollone in his first monetary policy speech since joining the ECB's board in November, said that the bank should be ready to "swiftly dial back our restrictive monetary policy stance."

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Latest News

  1. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  2. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  3. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  4. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  5. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  6. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  7. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  8. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us