Europe finally abolishes mobile phone roaming charges

Members of the European parliament have voted through new rules that will scrap mobile roaming charges and stop holidaymakers returning home to the nightmare of a massive phone bill racked up on their travels.The vote sees the deal reached between European authorities in June to scrap increased costs for calls, text and data while roaming with the EU, passed into law.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/27/europe-abolishes-mobile-phone-roaming-chargesAlso see:Mobile-phone charges abroad: Predatory roaming
They were in the bank, toting guns, as lots of money happened to go from the vault. That was the essence of last week’s claim by Mario Monti, the European Union’s competition commissioner, that mobile-phone operators have gouged customers by colluding to raise rates for roaming — ie, when you use your mobile phone abroad. Mr Monti’s case is circumstantial, but he says the network operators will have to answer it.In December Mr Monti’s office issued a report on the market for roaming. Most countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), the report found, have a roaming market that is ripe for collusion. The product is undifferentiated, and the number of sellers small. Pricing in the wholesale market is transparent, making it easy for a market leader to raise prices, and for other operators to take the hint and follow suit. The costs of running mobile networks do not vary that much. As a result, says the report, sellers’ pricing structures tend to run in parallel, at “high and rigid” levels. Mr Monti cites “an almost complete absence of competition”, and says that “prices appear to be converging”, towards euro1 (89 cents) a minute.
http://www.economist.com/node/613522Mobile phones: Data roaming charges will be abolished
Extra costs of using a mobile phone in countries across the EU are to be scrapped, MEPs have agreed, after years of negotiations.The ban on data roaming charges from 15 June 2017 has received a final green light in the European Parliament.Roaming charges are added by mobile operators for calls, texts and internet browsing when phone users are abroad.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34646434Bringing down barriers in the Digital Single Market: No roaming charges as of June 2017
The European Commission has welcomed today’s vote by the European Parliament’s plenary to adopt the agreement reached in June to end roaming charges by June 2017 and to set net neutrality rules for the first time in EU law.Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip, responsible for the Digital Single Market, said:”The voice of Europeans has been heard. Today’s vote is the final result of intense efforts to put an end to roaming charges in the European Union and to safeguard the open internet. As from mid-June 2017, Europeans will pay the same price to use their mobile devices when travelling in the EU as they do at home. And they will already pay less as from April 2016. This is the culmination of hard work by the Commission, and in particular by former Vice-Presidents Viviane Reding and Neelie Kroes, to tackle high roaming charges. This is not only about money; this is about bringing down barriers in the Digital Single Market. Today’s achievement is a first step towards a Telecoms Single Market. More work will need to be done to overcome national silos and address challenges such as spectrum coordination. We will go further as early as next year with an ambitious overhaul of EU telecoms rules. We count on the support of the European Parliament and Member States to make this happen”.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5927_en.htmNew rules on roaming charges and open Internet
The European Commission welcomes today’s vote by the European Parliament’s plenary to adopt the agreement reached in June to end roaming charges by June 2017 and to set first EU-wide net neutrality rules (read the press release).RoamingThe roaming charges will cease to exist in the EU as of 15 June 2017. Consumers will pay the same price for calls, texts and mobile data wherever they are travelling in the EU. Calling a friend when you are at home or in another EU country won’t make a difference on your bill.Already from April 2016, roaming will become even cheaper: operators will only be able to charge a small additional amount to domestic prices up to €0.05 per minute of call made, €0.02 per SMS sent, and €0.05 per MB of data (excl. VAT).
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/new-rules-roaming-charges-and-open-internet