EU scraps limits on mobile roaming

Public outcry led to scrapping of proposed limits.

The European Commission withdrew overnight its controversial restrictions on mobile roaming charges, retreating in the face of widespread public outcry from consumers and telecoms companies.

The policy draft published Monday reversed the Commission’s promise to virtually eliminate by mid-2017 extra fees for traveling outside a user’s home country. The draft, instead, would have limited free roaming to 30 days at a time and a maximum of about 90 days a year.

“The Commission’s proposal this week was a let down,” said Guillermo Beltra of the consumer group BEUC. “After years of saying it would end roaming charges, it pointed millions of eager consumers to the fine print … Consumers want the real deal.”

However, for telecoms companies across Europe there are some legitimate concerns. There are some customers who live in one country and work across the border in another, such as Luxembourg and Belgium. There are also many employees who work at a client’s office for extended periods. There is also the potential for abuse of the “roam-like-at-home” feature, where a customer could get a cheap plan in one country, but live and work in another where rates are higher.

Telecoms groups felt the 90-day cap was too high.

“Any threshold should be fully consistent with the definition of periodic traveling … The 90-days threshold is well beyond such definition,” said Alessandro Gropelli, spokesman for ETNO, which represents companies including BT, Deutsche Telekom and KPN.

Lobby group GSMA, which represents mobile operators like Orange and Proximus, also argued, “The rules were too complex to be implemented and understood.”

The Commission will now go back to the drawing board and publish a new proposal soon.

“When the European Parliament and the Council agreed to the Commission’s proposal to abolish roaming charges, they asked the Commission to define measures to prevent roaming services from being used for other reasons than periodic traveling,” said Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein.

News of the about-face comes just days before the Commission unveils a controversial review of existing telecoms laws. The plans are expected to include more regulations on internet platforms like WhatsApp and Skype; more coordinate and speed the rollout of 5G; and overhaul competition for telecoms infrastructure.

Zoya Sheftalovich contributed reporting.

This story has been updated to add the latest developments.