Brussels, 28/08/2008 (Agence Europe) - With the second phase of the 2007 regulation on roaming coming into effect on 30 August, it will become cheaper to make or receive calls while travelling in the EU. The Commission says that the price ceiling for roaming calls (the Eurotariff) introduced by the EU in 2007 will fall, during the night from Friday to Saturday, from €0.49 to €0.46 per minute (excluding VAT) for making a call, and from €0.24 to €0.22 per minute (excluding VAT) for receiving a call while in another EU country. Prices for roaming calls will go down a last time on 30 August 2009 to €0.43 per minute for making calls and to €0.19 per minute for receiving calls while in another EU country.
The EU Roaming Regulation, which will expire in 2010, is currently under review. The Commission has until the end of 2008 to bring forward proposals on whether to extend the scope of the regulation, particularly with regard to roaming text messages and data services. Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding says that the latest reduction of the Eurotariff on 30 August will reaffirm the trend for lower roaming prices. The next challenge, she says, is now to bring about “a Single Market for roaming text messages and data services”. She hopes the French Presidency and the European Parliament will help the Commission resolve this issue very soon.
Figures show that consumers are currently paying 24% more than the minutes they actually use to make calls, and 19% more for calls they receive. In some instances, Reding's spokesman said, operators charge two minutes for a call lasting one minute two seconds. Overbilling is a serious problem, particularly in Bulgaria, Malta, Austria, Poland and Slovakia. Four (France, Lithuania, Portugal and Spain) countries have brought in legislation requiring operators to charge by the second.
A new report, published on 12 August by the European Regulators Group (ERG) which brings together all 27 EU national regulatory authorities, shows that the cost of data roaming is still very high for many consumers. In the first quarter of 2008, a customer using data services paid on average €2.05 per megabyte while roaming with companies from their operator's group and €5.40 per megabyte for roaming with non-group companies. Italian and Slovak consumers who roam with a non-group company can even pay over €12 per megabyte. The Commission is expected to take a decision on all these matters in the coming weeks. (L.C./transl.rt)