Wholesale roaming regulation: A precondition for ‘roam like at home’ [EU Legislation in Progress]

Written by Mar Negreiro (3rd edition),

In 2015 the Council and European Parliament agreed in Regulation 2015/2120 that on 15 June 2017 roaming charges for mobile phone use would be abolished in the EU. After that date, ‘roam like at home’ (RLAH) would become a reality for all Europeans.

The regulation did not, however, address the wholesale roaming market, on account of the need to investigate market conditions in more depth. A review for the European Commission concluded that national wholesale roaming markets are not working well and need regulatory intervention. It therefore proposed a regulation establishing the maximum level of wholesale roaming charges that telecoms operators can charge each other for calls, text messages and data, to take effect from 15 June 2017.

An agreement was reached in trilogue that lowers significantly the wholesale data caps originally proposed, to take into account the falling unit price of data over time. As a result, since 15 June 2017 retail roaming charges have disappeared in the EU and EEA/EFTA countries This means that RLAH is now the reality in the EU.

Versions

• July 2017: Wholesale roaming regulation: A precondition for ‘roam like at home’ (3rd edition)
• February 2017: Wholesale roaming regulation: A precondition for ‘roam like at home’ (2nd edition)
• December 2016: Wholesale roaming regulation: A precondition for ‘roam like at home’ (1st edition)