The European Union has reached an agreement to end mobile roaming charges for people travelling within its 28 member countries – roaming charges will cease to exist in the EU as of 15 June 2017. The new agreement also announced strong net neutrality rules to “protecting the right of every European to access Internet content, without discrimination”.
Within the EU, prices for roaming calls, SMS and data have fallen by 80% while data roaming is up to 91% cheaper since 2007. From 30 April 2016, roaming will become even cheaper – data roaming fees will be capped at €0.05 per MB, calls will be capped at €0.05 per minute, and SMS will be capped at €0.02 per text (excluding VAT). The current EU roaming rates are €0.19 per minute of call made, €0.06 per SMS sent, and €0.20 per MB of data (excluding VAT).
The fall of #roaming | see our Q&A for details on this week’s groundbreaking decision: http://t.co/ZjSuw4KS8o pic.twitter.com/4wDfwuDvH1
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) July 4, 2015
The agreement includes a “fair use” clause that will allow operators to charge “a small basic fee” in case of permanent roaming – if a user permanently stays abroad with a domestic subscription of his home country. It’s, however, not clear how much operators will be able to charge, and what would be considered fair use.
“We still have a lot of work ahead of us to create a #DigitalSingleMarket” @Ansip_EU http://t.co/BMgTQrdfVd #roaming pic.twitter.com/r5x5kfTMdN — Digital Agenda (@DigitalAgendaEU) June 30, 2015
From 30 April 2016, Internet users will be free to access the content of their choice, they will not be unfairly blocked or slowed down anymore, and paid prioritisation will not be allowed. In the open Internet, all traffic will be treated equally, subject to strict and clearly identified public-interest exceptions, such as network security or combating child pornography, and subject to efficient day-to-day network management by Internet service providers.
The ‘deal’ between the EU’s council, commission, and parliament, however, still allows for Internet service providers to put aside portions of their networks to “enable the provision of specialized or innovative services,” of “a higher quality”. The deal also falls short of specifying what “significant pecuniary and administrative sanctions” will be imposed on a service provider who flouts the open Internet rules.
EU Moves To Create Internet Fast Lanes, Pretends It’s Net Neutrality By Redefining Basic Words http://t.co/7s6OTpgkxW
— techdirt (@techdirt) June 30, 2015
EU plans to destroy #netneutrality by allowing Internet fast lanes – http://t.co/cCY9tNg6Uw also allows zero-rating; but no open spectrum
— Glyn Moody (@glynmoody) July 1, 2015
Is the EU promoting a two-tier Internet service? Time will tell. For now, European citizens may have to exercise caution while accessing free and open Internet.
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