Brussels, 25/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 March, the European Parliament and Czech Presidency reached a compromise on the recasting of the roaming regulation. This informal compromise negotiated by the EP's industry committee still needs to be validated by the European Parliament as a whole, as well as by the Council of Ministers. Rapporteur, Adina-Ioana Valean (ALDE, Romania) was pleased with this “important step towards reaching an agreement that strikes a balance between the interests of all the stakeholders”.
The compromise does not fix roaming prices at rates set by the EU, but sets ceilings beneath which mobile operators can compete by offering lower prices. For roaming calls, the text set a maximum of €0.43 per minute (excluding VAT) for outgoing calls and €0.19 for incoming roaming calls as from 1 July 2009. From 1 July 2010, these tariffs will be reduced by 39 cents and 15 cents respectively and from 1 July 2011 by 35 and 11 cents. From 1 July 2009, operators will have to charge customers by the second, but will be able to apply an initial minimum charging period of 30 seconds. SMS should cost a maximum of €0.11 (excluding VAT) from 1 July 2009. The price cap for other data roaming services will be calculated on a kilobyte basis: from 1 July 2009, a maximum of €1.00 per megabyte (excluding VAT); from 1 July 2010, a maximum of €0.80 per megabyte (excluding VAT); and from 1 July 2011, a maximum of €0.50 per megabyte (excluding VAT). To avoid any bill shocks, roaming customers will be able to opt free of charge for a maximum financial limit from 1 March 2010, stipulates the compromise. This limit will automatically apply to all customers who have not made another choice by 1 July 2010. The informal agreement says that providers will have to inform their customers when 80% of the agreed limit has been reached. Once the limit is reached, another notification should be sent, indicating the procedure to be followed if the customer wishes to continue data roaming. At the request of MEPs, by mid-2011, the Commission will have to review inter alia “the extent to which consumers have benefited through real reductions in the price of roaming services” and the competitive situation of smaller, independent or newly started operators. In addition, the text requires the Commission to “assess methods other than price regulation” for creating a competitive internal market for roaming. The compromise must now be approved by the EP industry committee (31 March) and by the representatives of the member states in COREPER, before being adopted on second reading (vote expected for the session on 21-24 April) and coming into effect on 1 July. (I.L./transl.rt)