EU Parliament votes for ban on mobile roaming charges

heathrow

The EU has driven down wholesale prices too. What will happen is:
a) Operators will get less revenue for roaming (i.e. explicitly billed as such)
b) Their wholesale costs will fall.

UK Mobile Operators are financially stretched. Its hard to have sympathy for them, but consider that they are building out 4G networks. AND their termination rates have been slashed over the last few years.

I would expect that there will be a creep in contract prices. You can already see how O2 and EE are chancing their arms increasing prices in-contract.

urban469

In case you might be interested, I've been doing some research, and talking to people in the EU Parl to get some clarification. Here are answers to questions I asked (I'm writing a story about the legislation, so this is my pre-publication research – enjoy!):

Customers with unlimited calls/texts/data – not clear if 'unlimited' will mean unlimited anywhere in the EU. It depends on the definition of 'fair usage' (to be set by the EU communications regulator and the Commission). At any rate, it is likely that networks may be able to cap the amount of 'unlimited' that we can use (just like they do in the UK).

Roam like at home packages (like Vodafone EuroTraveller) – networks can no longer charge for these after 15 Dec 2015.

International calls – we'll still have to pay to call back home (unless networks CHOOSE to allow us to use our unlimited allowances on international calls like Eurotraveller does) BUT that international call must cost the same as it does at home (so France to UK must cost the same as UK to France).

(I have also posted this on the Vodafone forum, in case you're wondering where you've seen this).

urban469

And quoting from the draft legislation:

Reforms in the field of roaming should give users the confidence to stay connected when they travel in the Union without being subject to additional charges over and above the tariffs which they pay in the Member State where their contract was concluded.

Those on unlimited tariffs in the UK may face fair use caps when travelling to other EU countries (but those caps must be high enough to allow customers to 'replicate the typical domestic consumption pattern' while travelling):

While roaming providers assess themselves the volumes of roaming voice calls, SMS and data to be covered at domestic rates under their various retail packages, they may, notwithstanding the abolition of retail roaming charges by 15 December 2015, apply a "fair use clause" to the consumption of regulated retail roaming services provided at the applicable domestic price level, by reference to fair use criteria. These criteria should be applied in such a way that consumers are in a position to confidently replicate the typical domestic consumption pattern associated with their respective domestic retail packages while periodically travelling within the Union.

gjchester

urban469 wrote: »

Customers with unlimited calls/texts/data).

The proposed legislation (still has to be enacted into law in each country) says nothing about inclusive bundles, only that a person cannot be charged more overseas than in their own country.


Most packages already define that the inclusive minutes are only useable for UK 01/02/03/07 numbers, (with some 0800/0845 too and some such as the Isle of Man, or personal numbers being specifically excluded from inclusive minutes) so as long as the networks don't charge more for non UK use as they would out of bundle use they are probably covered.

urban469 wrote: »

Roam like at home packages (like Vodafone EuroTraveller) – networks can no longer charge for these after 15 Dec 2015

Nor are the networks obliged to offer such packages, the networks could withdraw any such packs so all use is
then chargeable.

urban469

gjchester wrote: »

The proposed legislation (still has to be enacted into law in each country) says nothing about inclusive bundles, only that a person cannot be charged more overseas than in their own country.

This is from the draft legislation:

While roaming providers assess themselves the volumes of roaming voice calls, SMS and data to be covered at domestic rates under their various retail packages, they may, notwithstanding the abolition of retail roaming charges by 15 December 2015, apply a "fair use clause" to the consumption of regulated retail roaming services provided at the applicable domestic price level.

If you have a bundle of, say, 600 minutes of free calls per month, then your domestic rate is:
0p per minute for the first 600 minutes,
and 20p per minute after that.

Under the draft legislation, networks will be obliged to charge 0p per minute while you are travelling in another EU country, but they may set a 'fair use cap' (the level is still to be defined). So, they may say that you will pay:
0p per minute for the first 600 minutes in the UK
and 20p per minute after that
and 0p per minute for the first 300 minutes in the EU
and 20 p per minute after that

I've talked to the EU Parliament press office, and they've confirmed to me that the only difference between domestic and EU use would be with regards to the 'fair use cap'. Networks almost certainly would not be allowed to charge for a call in the EU that, on your tariff, would be zero-rated at home.

You need to compare like with like. If a local call in London is zero-rated, then a local call in Paris is zero-rated (subject to any allowable fair use roaming cap). After reaching the fair use cap, networks may be able to charge out-of-bundle rates, as you suggest (20p per minute in my example above).

When looking at the fair use level, though, the important line in the draft legislation is this:

These [fair use] criteria should be applied in such a way that consumers are in a position to confidently replicate the typical domestic consumption pattern associated with their respective domestic retail packages while periodically travelling within the Union.

That means that fair use caps can not be set at a level that encourages customers to use their phones less abroad than they would at home. Networks wouldn't be able to set a fair use cap of 10 minutes, for example.

Also, on a legal point:

gjchester wrote: »

The proposed legislation (still has to be enacted into law in each country)

It is draft legislation, rather than proposed legislation. The EU Commission proposes it, the EU Parliament ratifies it (draft). There's one more stage, which is for the EU Council of Ministers to approve it. That's likely to happen in October.

gjchester

urban469 wrote: »

I've talked to the EU Parliament press office, and they've confirmed to me that the only difference between domestic and EU use would be with regards to the 'fair use cap'.

If you had to ask the press office for clarification then the legislation is unclear, the networks lawyers will find a way around it.

Using your example
If you have a bundle of, say, 600 minutes of free calls per month, then your domestic rate is:
0p per minute for the first 600 minutes,
and 20p per minute after that.

No, You pay 20p per minute for all calls that is the published cost, you just happen to have 600 minutes of in UK Calls included in your monthly rental without charge, that does not mean they are free. All comes down to how it's written, and with the best will in the world corporations will read it anyway they can if it comes down to potential loss of profits rather than to comply with the spirit it was intended with.

urban469 wrote: »

Also, on a legal point:

It is draft legislation, rather than proposed legislation. The EU Commission proposes it, the EU Parliament ratifies it (draft). There's one more stage, which is for the EU Council of Ministers to approve it. That's likely to happen in October.

My understanding is there is another step. Once ratified it has to be adopted into UK law. The UK govenment cannot stop it being implimented to some extent without risk of fine or censure, but they can delay it, seek to implement the minimum possible and can even choose to only adopt portions of it in some circumstances.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8160808.stm

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/229763/bis-13-775-transposition-guidance-how-to-implement-european-directives-effectively-revised.pdf
,

urban469

gjchester wrote: »

If you had to ask the press office for clarification then the legislation is unclear, the networks lawyers will find a way around it.

Using your example
If you have a bundle of, say, 600 minutes of free calls per month, then your domestic rate is:
0p per minute for the first 600 minutes,
and 20p per minute after that.

No, You pay 20p per minute for all calls that is the published cost, you just happen to have 600 minutes of in UK Calls included in your monthly rental without charge, that does not mean they are free. All comes down to how it's written, and with the best will in the world corporations will read it anyway they can if it comes down to potential loss of profits rather than to comply with the spirit it was intended with.

The spirit is that we should pay the same no matter where we are in the EU. I'm sure the Commission, the Parliament and the Council of Ministers have lawyers making sure the final legislation is watertight.

Legislation is rarely simple enough for you and I to understand (certainly not me). If I was a lawyer, I probably wouldn't need their help!

gjchester wrote: »

My understanding is there is another step. Once ratified it has to be adopted into UK law. The UK govenment cannot stop it being implimented to some extent without risk of fine or censure, but they can delay it, seek to implement the minimum possible and can even choose to only adopt portions of it in some circumstances.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8160808.stm

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/229763/bis-13-775-transposition-guidance-how-to-implement-european-directives-effectively-revised.pdf
,

The Council of Ministers is made up of ministers of state from each EU member. In effect, that's when the UK agrees to the legislation, and when it passes into English law. The UK Parliament doesn't vote on it (as it would for a domestically written draft), but I think they have the power at that point to question subsidiarity (i.e. the EU's jurisdiction).

Anyway, that's all academic, because the UK has been one of the strongest backers of this legislation. In fact, it's surprising how strong the cross-party, cross-border support has been (at government level and within the EU Parliament).

gjchester

urban469 wrote: »

The spirit is that we should pay the same no matter where we are in the EU. I'm sure the Commission, the Parliament and the Council of Ministers have lawyers making sure the final legislation is watertight.

Hopefully I'm wrong but I doubt that any company will stick to the spirit of the law, look at all the recent mid term price increases.
I also think your placing too much trust in the policy makers not to be swayed by lobbyist's..

urban469 wrote: »

The Council of Ministers is made up of ministers of state from each EU member.

It still has to be incorporated by Act of Parliament to bring it into UK law. Usually this is a formality but that's never guaranteed, Especially as again lobbyists will be out in force for the telecom firms.


While I agree the UK does tend to enact most things into UK law, there is a growing call in the conservatives to veto many of the EU laws we see.

buglawton

Well the UK stayed out of Schengen... So France and Italy get umpteen times as many Asian tourists as their tour companies tow them around the rest of the EU on one single visa.

Next the rest of the EU will be having a free mobile calls, data and text roaming party while the UK sits on the sidelines... again.

redux

urban469 wrote: »

Anyway, that's all academic, because the UK has been one of the strongest backers of this legislation. In fact, it's surprising how strong the cross-party, cross-border support has been (at government level and within the EU Parliament).

Actually the UK has been one of the slowest to support such measures, and has several times tended to support the mobile companies opposition or reservations or at the rate at which new regulation was brought in.

3 articles in 2013 2013 and 2007

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303342104579100853181118202

http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/british-government-opposes-eu-ban-on-roaming-charges/

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/eu-to-regulate-on-mobile-roaming-after-all-154251