The group of twenty seven European Commissioners have voted to push through proposals to scrap roaming fees for voice calls, texts, and internet access, reports The Telegraph.
The changes are said to be part of a broader effort to create a single European telecoms market and will come into force as soon as July 1st, 2014.
They expect the death of roaming charges to typically wipe 2pc off mobile operators’ revenues, after several years of tightening regulations designed to put an end to shockingly high bills for holiday makers and business travellers. They argue that operators will gain in the longer term by customers using their mobiles more abroad, particularly to access the internet.
The detailed proposals will be published in the next six weeks and could encourage consolidation of European network operators.
“There are around 100 operators in Europe and only four in the US,” the source said. “That’s not sustainable if we’re going to have a single market and investment. Europe has less 4G mobile broadband than Africa at the moment.”
“Consolidation is not the aim. The aim is a single market, but if it means we get fewer, stronger operators, that’s good.”
To appease mobile operators the package is said to offer provisions to simplify operating across the EU by synchronizing national sales of airwaves. This means that operators could do business across the bloc with authorization from just a single national regulator.
Read More [via 9to5Mac]
The changes are said to be part of a broader effort to create a single European telecoms market and will come into force as soon as July 1st, 2014.
They expect the death of roaming charges to typically wipe 2pc off mobile operators’ revenues, after several years of tightening regulations designed to put an end to shockingly high bills for holiday makers and business travellers. They argue that operators will gain in the longer term by customers using their mobiles more abroad, particularly to access the internet.
The detailed proposals will be published in the next six weeks and could encourage consolidation of European network operators.
“There are around 100 operators in Europe and only four in the US,” the source said. “That’s not sustainable if we’re going to have a single market and investment. Europe has less 4G mobile broadband than Africa at the moment.”
“Consolidation is not the aim. The aim is a single market, but if it means we get fewer, stronger operators, that’s good.”
To appease mobile operators the package is said to offer provisions to simplify operating across the EU by synchronizing national sales of airwaves. This means that operators could do business across the bloc with authorization from just a single national regulator.
Read More [via 9to5Mac]