Under the new rules, businesses and EU citizens will enjoy a better roaming experience, with the same quality of mobile services abroad as in their own country.
Enters into force tomorrow, Friday 1st of July, o new improved European roaming regulationwhich extends roaming with domestic charge for a decade to 2032. It also enables travelers in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA) to make calls, send messages and browse the internet at no extra charge.
Under the new rules, businesses and EU citizens will enjoy a better roaming experience, with the same quality of mobile services abroad as in their own country. The new rules also improve access to emergency communications across the EU and provide clear information on services that may be subject to additional charges.
Consumers will now be entitled the same quality of mobile internet connection abroad as in their own country. Mobile service providers should ensure that consumers have access to the use of 4G networks, or the more advanced 5G networks, if they are available at their destination.
When consumers travel By plane or ship, mobile phones can be automatically connected to the ship’s satellite network. Using mobile services provided by non-terrestrial networks can be subject to very high additional charges. The new roaming rules oblige providers to protect their consumers and inform them about the transition of their phones to non-terrestrial networks. In addition, providers should automatically discontinue mobile services if the amount charged for these services reaches € 50 or another pre-determined limit. Providers will also be able to offer additional services, such as the possibility of exemption from roaming on planes and ships.
Consumers should also be able to make informed decisions about the use of services that may incur additional costs. When traveling abroad, calling customer service, insurance and airline support, or sending SMS to contests or events can be more expensive than in your home country. Providers must ensure that they provide consumers with information on the types of telephone numbers that may incur additional costs when consumers call or access them from abroad. Providers should inform consumers by automatic SMS messages sent when crossing the border to another EU country, as well as in service contracts.
The new roaming rules also ensure that citizens are aware of 112, the EU’s unique emergency number, which they can use anywhere in the EU for emergency services. By June 2023, providers should automatically send messages to their customers traveling abroad to inform them of available alternative means of accessing emergency services, such as text or real-time applications.
The new roaming regulation sets lower wholesale fees, ie the prices paid by providers for the use of networks abroad, in order to provide services to their customers when they are abroad. For data services, the new regulation sets the following wholesale ceilings: EUR 2 / GB in 2022, EUR 1.8 / GB in 2023, EUR 1.55 / GB in 2024, EUR 1.3 / GB in 2025, 1 , 1 euro / GB in 2026 and 1 euro / GB from 2027 onwards. For voice calls: 0.022 euros / minute during the period 2022-2024 and 0.019 euros / minute from 2025 onwards. For SMS: 0.004 euros / SMS during the period 2022-2024 and 0.003 euros / SMS from 2025 onwards.
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