Brussels, 29/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 30 April, EU Regulation 2015/2120 introducing measures for open internet access comes into force - the final stage ahead of total scrapping of roaming charges in Europe.
In practice, this means that from that date, phoning, sending text messages and surfing the web from abroad will cost much less than before. The surcharge levied by telephone operators will be capped at €0.05 a minute for each telephone call, €0.02 for each text message sent and €0.05 for each megabyte of data downloaded in another EU member state. These charges will be totally phased out on 15 June 2017. This is good news for anyone going on holiday and also for the seven million cross-border people throughout Europe, said Belgian S&D MEP Marc Tarabella, adding that the end objective was for the consumer to pay a fair price and the EP would check the situation in 2017 to ensure operators were not compensating for this drop in profits by an un unjustified increase in the cost of other services they offer.
What is also new is recognition of the internet neutrality, meaning that internet service suppliers must not slow down, discriminate against or block access to some applications or services. “Internet neutrality is crucial for preserving the internet as we know it today, that encourages innovation and is accessible to all”, commented Monique Goyens, director general of the European Consumer Union Bureau (BEUC). She said it was “a victory for consumer rights because access providers will not be able to decide to suit their commercial interests which services consumers should or shouldn't use”. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)