2015 was supposed to be the year that EU roaming charges went away. It’s been delayed again – say it isn’t so. As a mobile operator I can see them jumping for joy, but as a consumer and business traveler I can’t say I agree.
In April, the European Parliament voted to end roaming charges across the EU by the end of 2015. This step was part of the Connected Continent package proposed in 2013, the goal of which was to bring Europe closer to a single telecommunications market within the EU. To accomplish that goal would require ending roaming charges, guaranteeing an open Internet for all by banning blocking and degrading content, coordinating spectrum licensing for wireless broadband, giving Internet and broadband customers more transparency in their contracts, and making it easier for customers to switch providers. Thereby supporting net neutrality in addition to the focus on mobile roaming elimination.
The good news is that the mobile operators began taking steps to move toward this end goal. The reduction of data costs, in a year-to-year comparison, shows how much they’ve decreased. Additionally, EU-wide roaming packages came into play. I have O2 mobile service and when I travel within the EU I get an offer of 2.99 euros per day to have the same data package I have in my home region. That’s truly a no-brainer decision. I always take that offer. Whereas, I always have my data roaming off when traveling outside of the EU. Operators were learning how to take advantage of the plan and raise their income when travelers roam. Taking a look at the current reductions in place, this chart represents a 50% decrease in prices and, when compared to 2007 it’s almost a 90% decrease in prices.
Then things began to unravel. In September, it was announced that a delay was being considered. This proposal came from Italy, which held the rotating head of the European Council at that time, suggesting the continuation of “roam-like-at-home” plans, such as the one I take advantage of, but with no specific end date for elimination of these fees. This was the first blow to the plan.
The torch has transitioned to Latvia and the new president has proposed a new plan. And now we see a further delay. This new proposal lays out a plan in which mobile operators would offer customers only a limited basic roaming allowance for e-mails and Internet browsing. It should specifically “not” replicate their home plans. Beyond this basic usage, the operators would have the ability to charge above their wholesale costs to recoup their costs of doing business. This would be at least .05 euros per minute or MB of data. I’m all for recouping costs of doing business, but I for one will turn my data roaming back off when traveling if this new plan passes. Hopefully someone is actually doing the ROI on this model before it goes to a final vote next week.
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Claudia Bacco, Managing Director – EMEA for RCR Wireless News, has spent her entire career in telecom, IT and security. Having experience as an operator, software and hardware vendor and as a well-known industry analyst, she has many opinions on the market. She’ll be sharing those opinions along with ongoing trend analysis for RCR Wireless News.
