Roaming fees across EU to be reduced starting April 30

Starting April 30 roaming fees across the EU will be reduced to EUR 0.05 per minute for outgoing voice calls, EUR 0.02 for text messages (SMS) and EUR 0.05 per megabyte of mobile internet use. The cap on charges for incoming voice calls will be determined later this year and is expected to be considerably lower than for outgoing calls, according to a press release by the European Parliament.

This is part of a larger legislation scheme implemented across the bloc, aiming to eliminate roaming fees and unequal internet access completely. Roaming fees for calling, sending text messages and using the mobile internet abroad in the EU (and in EEA countries) will be banned from 15 June 2017.

“This abolition of roaming surcharges has been long awaited by everybody: ordinary people, start-ups, SMEs and all kinds of organisations,” said the rapporteur, Pilar del Castillo before the vote. “Thanks to this agreement, Europe will also become the only region in world which legally guarantees open internet and net neutrality. The principle of net neutrality will be applied directly in the 28 member states. It also ensures that we will not have a two-speed internet.”

The new law does offer some exemptions to protect the industry against abuses such as “permanent roaming”. In such cases, operators could in certain circumstances be allowed to charge a small fee, lower than current caps, according to a “fair use” policy. The exact details for this will be defined by the Commission and telecoms regulators.

In terms of internet usage, firms offering internet access have to” treat all traffic equally, i.e. not to block or slow delivery of content, applications or services from selected senders or to selected receivers, unless this is necessary to obey court orders, comply with laws, prevent network congestion or combat cyber-attacks.” If such measures prove necessary, they will have to be “transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate” and may not last for longer than necessary.