Brussels, 27/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The total ban on roaming charges for using mobile phones abroad in the EU will enter into force in June 2017. Clear rules on the right to Internet access will be legally binding following the final adoption by the European Parliament on Tuesday 27 October of the legislative package on telecommunications.
The plenary session vote has therefore definitively sealed the institutional agreement concluded at the end of June following months of never-ending discussions between the EP and Council. The latter gave its approval on 1 October (see EUROPE 11401).
Rapporteur Pilar del Castillo (EPP, Spain) explained: “ This abolition of roaming surcharges has been long awaited by everybody: ordinary people, start-ups, SMEs and all kinds of organisations (…) Thanks to this agreement, Europe will also become the only region in the world which legally guarantees open internet and net neutrality”. The Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of the digital single market, Andrus Ansip, did not hide his satisfaction of seeing this legislation finally concluded: “Great news that EP approved end of roaming surcharges, putting the net neutrality into EU law. Congratulations, excellent news for Europe “.
In substance, the text adopted includes an end to roaming costs from 15 June 2017 for calls, sending texts or using the mobile Internet abroad in the EU and to countries of the European Economic Area. As from the end of April 2016, roaming costs will not be above five cents for calls, 2 cents for text messages and 5 cents per megabyte sent/downloaded on the Internet.
If operators are able to prove that they cannot cover the costs and that this affects national prices, the national regulatory authorities can, nonetheless, allow them to authorise surcharges in exceptional circumstances subject to monitoring. In an effort to avoid abuses such as “permanent” roaming, operators will also in certain cases be allowed to request a minimum fee as part of the so-called fair use policy.
The new law will oblige firms offering internet access to treat all traffic equally, i.e. 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. (Original version in French by Isabelle Lamberty)