EU document: Mobile roaming fees should remain until 2018

According to a proposal from the Latvian EU Presidency, January-June 2015 to be discussed in January 2015 by the EU Member States, telecoms firms would be allowed offer customers a 'basic roaming allowance'. In order to avoid abnormal usage, citizens would be able to browse the Internet or make calls abroad at domestic rates only up to a limited allowance.

Ending roaming charges for using mobile phones abroad has been a priority for the European Commission, which proposed a reform of the European telecoms sector in 2013 to knock down national barriers. The European Parliament voted in 2014 overwhelmingly to end roaming fees within the EU by the end of 2015. If EU countries came to an agreement concerning the Latvian proposal, a compromise would still need to be negotiated with the European Parliament and the Commission, meaning the text would likely be subject to changes.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Huge cuts in mobile data roaming price caps from 1 July – a drop of over 50% from last summer! http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-huge-cuts-in-mobile-data-roaming-price-caps-from-1-july-a-drop-of-over-50-from-last-summer/

EurActiv, 20.01.15: German minister hopes to bury EU roaming fees http://www.euractiv.com/sections/innovation-enterprise/german-minister-hopes-bury-eu-roaming-fees-311389

EurActiv, 24.09.14: EU considers delaying end of mobile roaming charges http://www.euractiv.com/sections/infosociety/eu-considers-delaying-end-mobile-roaming-charges-308663

EUObserver, 04.03.15: EU countries to break promise on roaming surcharges https://euobserver.com/news/127865

Politico, 21.05.15: Europe’s great data divide http://www.politico.eu/article/data-telecoms-europe-divide/

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