Europe - consultation on roaming rates

Telecoms: European Commission launches public consultation on the functioning and the effects of the EU Roaming Regulation
see also roaming consultation document

IP/08/718

Telecoms: European Commission launches public consultation on the functioning and the effects of the EU Roaming Regulation

As of today, the European Commission invites feedback by industry, consumers and other interested stakeholders to review the functioning and effectiveness of the EU Roaming Regulation, which entered into force on 30 June 2007. According to the provisions of the Regulation, the Commission must report to the European Parliament and the Council in 2008 about the functioning of the new roaming rules and their effects. The public consultation aims to gather responses from mobile operators, businesses, consumer associations and any interested party by 2 July 2008.

The public consultation seeks feedback from stakeholders on the general functioning and impact of the current Regulation as well as on specific issues such as:

* inadvertent roaming (or involuntary roaming) when consumers use their mobile phone close to the border of a neighbouring country and are connected to a foreign network;
* the effect of the Regulation on smaller operators and on domestic prices;
* the issue of actual and billed minutes (e.g. whether there has been any detrimental trend away from "per second" to "per minute" billing as a result of the Regulation);
* whether regulation is necessary for data roaming services and SMS in light of current retail prices and market developments;
* the duration of the EU Roaming Regulation (until 30 June 2010 or beyond).