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

Briefing 22-02-2017

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. On 29 November, Parliament's Industry Committee voted for a significant reduction in the data wholesale caps proposed by the Commission. During the third trilogue meeting on 31 January, an agreement was reached between the Parliament and the Council that lowers significantly the wholesale data caps originally proposed. Second edition. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure. "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"