On 1 February 2017, the European Commission announced that the Commission, European Parliament and the Council of the EU have reached an informal agreement on proposed rules setting out maximum wholesale roaming charges on telecommunications operators - to protect those operators in the run up to abolishing retail roaming charges later this year.
The European Commission's 2015 regulation on roaming and net neutrality (the "Roaming Regulation") set out a new retail pricing regime for regulating roaming services with the objective of ending retail roaming charges by 15 June 2017 - this allows consumers to use their home mobile phone subscriptions when periodically travelling abroad (subject to a fair use policy). The Roaming Regulation also required the Commission to review the wholesale roaming market and propose wholesale roaming charges to enable the end of retail roaming charges. Setting the maximum wholesale roaming charges has required much negotiation and the European Parliament and the Council of the EU must now formally approve the agreed rates through the legislative process.
The European Commission Press Release on the end of roaming charges can be accessed here.
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