New roaming website
The Commission today presented a new roaming website to make transparent the prices currently charged to consumers who use their mobile phone for sending text messages or surfing the web abroad in one of the 27 EU Member States. Based on input from the European Regulators Group (ERG) and from information requested from mobile operators, the website shows:
- A typical French customer sending a roaming text message from holidays in Italy this summer could pay up to €0.30, while a Czech tourist in Italy would pay up to €0.42 (10.00 CZK). In Spain, a Swedish holidaymaker could pay up to €0.40 (3.79 SEK) per message when roaming, a German €0.41, a Pole €0.45 (1.50 ZL) and a tourist from the UK as much as €0.63 (£0.40 GBP)
- The average retail price of text messages in the EU has remained unchanged since February when Commissioner Reding called on the industry to lower prices voluntarily. A roaming text message still costs around €0.29 (excluding VAT), and can go up to €0.80 for Belgian roamers. This is more than ten times higher than the price for domestic text messages which can be as low as €0.034 according to a new study by the Danish regulator (National IT and Telecom Agency).
- Only one operator in Austria reacted to the Commission's call for better prices offering 100 bundled text messages at €0.10 per roamed message as of 16 June.
- Prices for data services while roaming still range from €0.25 per MB to over €16 per MB (IP/08/1048). This can create "bill-shocks" particularly for users who are not aware that such prices apply. In addition, high wholesale rates prevent smaller operators and operators from smaller EU countries from offering more competitive data packages to their customers.
These findings and the results of a public consultation that ended on 2 July (IP/08/718) will now feed into the Commission's current review of the scope of the EU Roaming Regulation which has been requested by the European Parliament. A detailed impact assessment is in preparation, also taking into account the findings of the ERG.
"The ERG's diligent and detailed work will be of tremendous help to the Commission in arriving at a final decision on text messages and data roaming," said Commissioner Reding. "On this solid basis, the Commission should be able to present a legislative proposal to the European Parliament and the Council in early autumn. I will put all my energy into paving the way for a political agreement still under the French presidency of the EU."
Background
The EU Roaming Regulation came into force on 30 June 2007 (MEMO/08/457, IP/07/870). The Commission is required to report by 30 December 2008 on its implementation and make proposals whether to extend it in time and scope. The Commission originally proposed the Regulation because prices for roaming voice calls were not justified by the underlying costs of providing the service (IP/06/386).
The Commission's new roaming website: http://ec.europa.eu/roaming/
