Last week, the European Commission proposed setting a ceiling on the maximum wholesale mobile charges abroad paid by operators to use the networks of other European Union countries in order to ensure that the consumer is offered a "smooth" transition until the end of roaming slated for June 2017.
The 28 member countries and the European Parliament have asked Brussels to establish a limit to reduce the current wholesale rates so as to ensure that the abolition of roaming charges is sustainable.
Vice President of the European Commission with responsibility for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, explained that the review of wholesale markets is an effort to use the agreement to end mobile charges abroad to simultaneously "put an end to unjustified geo-blocking."
"We also want cross-border portability of content to come into effect in 2017, so that Europeans can move with their movies, music, sports broadcasts and electronic books throughout the entire EU," he added.
In April this year a new limit on roaming charges took effect, paving the way for final elimination in mid-June next year.
Accordingly, an operator cannot charge more than five euro cents a minute for a call from a Member State other than the customer’s, or more than two euro cents per text message or five euro cents per MB of data (prices excluding VAT).
