Wholesale roaming regulation: A precondition for 'roam like at home'

Briefing 06-12-2016

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, to take effect from 15 June 2017. Stakeholder reactions are divided: while consumers would enjoy free roaming, operators are worried about recovering costs at wholesale level. On 29 November, Parliament's Industry Committee voted for a reduction in the call and data wholesale caps proposed by the Commission. A more recent edition of this document is available. Find it by searching by the document title at this address: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/home.html