Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the interim report on the state of development of roaming services within the European Union  (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2010-06-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: communications systems, mobile phone, regulation of telecommunications, report, telecommunications, transmission network

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 29.6.2010 
COM(2010)356 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

on the interim report on the state of development of roaming services within the 
European Union 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 

Background .................................................................................................................. 3 

2.1. 

Current Regulation ....................................................................................................... 4 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

4. 

5. 

Main trends in roaming services .................................................................................. 5 

Evolution of roaming prices......................................................................................... 5 

Traffic evolution......................................................................................................... 10 

Transparency measures .............................................................................................. 11 

Progress towards achieving the objectives of the Regulation.................................... 12 

Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 14 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

One of the Commission’s more recent policy priorities has been to create an internal 
market  for  roaming  services  and  eliminate  the  excessive  charges  which  existed.  In 
June 2007, a first Regulation on roaming on public mobile telephone networks within 
the Community1 (the Roaming Regulation) was adopted to contribute to the smooth 
functioning  of  the  internal  market  while  achieving  a  high  level  of  consumer 
protection, fostering competition and transparency in the market.  

The  Roaming  Regulation  was  aimed  at  addressing  a  situation  which  directly 
disfavoured  cross-border  economic  activity  (roaming)  compared  to  intra-State 
economic activity (domestic use of mobile phone services). 2 

The  Commission  conducted  a  first  review  of  this  Regulation,  which  revealed  that 
competition  was  still  not  working  satisfactorily.  Consequently,  the  Commission 
presented proposals for amending the Roaming Regulation. These amendments were 
adopted  by  the  European  Parliament  and  Council  in  June  20093  and  included  an 
extension in time and in scope to cover SMS and data roaming services. 

The Roaming Regulation, as amended, is valid until 30 June 2012. In the meantime 
the  Commission's  task  is  to  monitor  and  report  to  the  European  Parliament  and 
Council  on  the  functioning  of  the  Regulation.  The  Commission  must  review  the 
functioning of the Regulation by 30 June 2011 at the latest.  

In addition, the Commission is required to prepare an interim report no later than 30 
June  2010  on  its  monitoring  activities  in  relation  to  roaming.  This  Communication 
forms  the  interim  report  for  the  purposes  of  the  Roaming  Regulation,  as  amended. 
Given  that  the  amending  Regulation  has  only  been  in  force  since  June  2009,  this 
interim  report  provides  a  general  summary  of  the  latest  trends  in  roaming  and  an 
initial assessment of the progress towards achieving the objectives of the Regulation.  

2. 

BACKGROUND 

Since  the  adoption  of  the  amending  Regulation,  the  Commission  has  continued  to 
work closely with the European Regulators Group (ERG) and with its successor, the 
Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), to monitor 
implementation  as  well  as  developments  in  roaming  services.  BEREC  conducts  an 
extensive  data  collection  exercise  which  forms  the  basis  for  the  Benchmark  Data 
Reports, the latest of which was published in April 2010 and gave important input to 
this  Communication.  In  March  2010,  BEREC  also  issued  a  report  on  alternative 
retail voice, SMS and data roaming tariffs, as well as a roaming compliance report, 
both of which have provided useful input to this document. 4  

1 

2 
3 

4 

Regulation  (EC)  No  717/2007  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  27  June  2007  on 
roaming on public mobile telephone networks within the Community, OJ L 171, 29.6.2007, p.32. 
See point 20 of the ECJ Advocate General’s conclusions on Case C-58/08. 
Regulation  (EC)  No  544/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  18  June  2009 
amending Regulation (EC) No 717/2007, OJ L 167, 29.6.2009, p.12. 
For all ERG/BEREC reports, see: http://www.erg.eu.int/documents/index_en.htm. 

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On  24  March  2010,  the  Commission  organised  a  workshop  on  roaming  services 
attended  by  representatives  of  the  industry,  consumer  associations,  national 
regulatory authorities (NRAs) and Ministries. The views expressed at the workshop 
have also been taken into account in the Commission’s reporting exercise.5 

2.1. 

Current Regulation 

The  Roaming  Regulation  regulates  wholesale  and  retail  voice  roaming  charges  and 
includes  measures  to  increase  transparency.  A  price  cap,  with  yearly  reductions, 
applies at the wholesale level; since July 2009 the relevant wholesale cap has been 
€0.26 and this will fall to €0.22 as from 1 July 2010. At the retail level a maximum 
price  cap  for  a  Eurotariff,  which  all  operators  were  required  to  offer,  again  with 
yearly reductions, was established and applied by default to all customers unless they 
had  explicitly  requested  another  tariff  plan  in  2007.  It  is  currently  set  at  €0.43  per 
minute  for  calls  made  and  €0.19  for  calls  re ceived  and,  as  from  1  July  2010,  these 
maximum  caps  will  be  further  reduced  to  €0.39  and  €0.15  respectively.  In 
accordance  with  the  amended  Roaming  Regulation,  these  price  caps  are  billed  per 
second, with the possibility of establishing a minimum charging period of 30 seconds 
at the wholesale level and also for calls made at the retail level. Whilst operators are 
obliged to offer a Eurotariff, they also remain free to provide alternative retail offers 
for  voice  roaming  services.  In  addition,  as  from  1  July  2010  operators  will  not  be 
able to levy any charge on consumers for receiving a voicemail while roaming. 

For SMS, a wholesale cap at €0.04 and a re tail Euro-SMS tariff which operators are 
required  to  offer  with  a  cap  of  €0.11  were   also  established  (as  for  voice  services, 
operators can also provide alternative offers). For data roaming, a wholesale cap was 
set and is currently at the level of €1 per Megabyte (MB); this will also decrease on a 
yearly basis and will be €0.80 from July 2010. Transparency measures for consumers 
have also been introduced. Operators must send information on roaming charges as 
soon as the customer enters another Member State and, in addition, information on 
the possibility to call 112 in the visited Member State free of charge. Transparency 
measures also include provisions to avoid ‘bill shocks’ in data roaming services (the 
‘cut-off limit’). The cut-off limit became available, at the consumer's request, from 1 
March  2010  and  a  €50  cut-off  limit  will  apply  by  default  as  of  1  July  2010  to  all 
those consumers who have not already opted for a different limit.  

5 

For more information on this workshop, see: 
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/workshop/index_en.htm 

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3. 

MAIN TRENDS IN ROAMING SERVICES 

3.1. 

Evolution of roaming prices 

Voice 

Key points 

•  Prices  for  voice  calls  made  and  received  are  now  around  46 %  and  55 %  lower, 
respectively, than before the entry into force of the first Roaming Regulation. 

•  Average  prices  for  Eurotariff  offered  by  operators  and  alternative  tariffs  are 

clustered around the levels of the regulated caps.  

•  There  is  only  a  small  difference  between  regulated  (Eurotariff)  and  unregulated 

(alternative) tariffs. There is significant variation across Member States. 

•  The new billing provisions introducing per-second billing have led to a reduction 
of  63 %  in  the  surcharge  caused  by  the  previous  billing  methods  for  calls  made 
and to its elimination for calls received.  

Overall,  compliance  with  the  new  price  caps  and  billing  provisions  has  been  good. 
Therefore, consumers have continued to benefit from lower roaming tariffs, and the 
current  prices  for  making  and  receiving  calls  represent  a  reduction  of  around  46 % 
and 55 %, respectively, as compared with the situation before the entry into force of 
the first Roaming Regulation. Consumers now also benefit from the new provisions 
on per-second billing and as a result the surcharge due to the previous billing method 
has  been  reduced  by  more  than  half  for  calls  made.  However,  prices  at  both 
wholesale and retail levels (see Figure 1 below) remain clustered around the levels of 
the caps.  

The average wholesale price per minute at the end of 2009 was €0.23. At the retail 
level, the average prices per minute at the end of 2009 for the Eurotariff offered by 
operators  were  €0.38  for  calls  made  and  €0.17  for  calls  received.  These  average 
prices  have  been  following  a  downward  trend  in  line  with  the  reductions  in  the 
regulated caps. 

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EU/EEA average prices per minute for retail voice calls made
(based on billed minutes)
(EU only for Q2, Q3 and Q4 2009)

€ 0,80

€ 0,70

€ 0,60

)
.

.

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.

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i

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€ 0,50

€ 0,40

€ 0,30

€ 0,20

€ 0,10

€ 0,00

Q2 2007

Q3 2007

Q4 2007

Q1 2008

Q2 2008

Q3 2008

Q4 2008

Q1 2009

Q2 2009

Q3 2009

Q4 2009

Average price of voice calls - calls made

Eurotariff - Calls Made

Non-Eurotariff - Calls Made

Regulated Cap

Figure 1 (Source: BEREC)  

There are alternative tariffs available for calls both made and received; these are in 
some  cases  lower  than  the  Eurotariff  offered  by  operators,  but  there  is  significant 
variation between Member States. The average price for calls made under alternative 
tariffs  has  increased  during the second half  of  2009  and  is  now  almost  at  the  same 
level as the average price per minute for the Eurotariff (see Figure 1 above). For calls 
received,  alternative  tariffs  are  on  average  lower  than  the  Eurotariff  offered  by 
operators,  but  following  the  regulated  cap  reductions  in  July  2009  these  average 
prices are now almost at the same level. 

Per-second  billing  for  voice  calls  was  introduced  with  a  view  to  eliminating  the 
hidden  charge  that  per-minute  billing  represents  for  consumers  and  to  ensure  that 
users pay for what they actually consume. The data gathered indicate that this has led 
to a significantly lower surcharge6. NRAs have stated that some operators who were 
not able to implement these provisions on time, but had intended to do so as soon as 
possible and to compensate consumers for any loss.  

At the retail level, previous billing surcharges were estimated to add around 24 % for 
calls  made  and  this  has  now  been  reduced  by  more  than  half  to  10 %.  For  calls 
received,  per-minute  billing  applying  previously  was  estimated  to  add  around  19 % 
of surcharge for consumers and, given that pure per-second billing now applies, this 
surcharge should have been completely eliminated. NRAs are monitoring the correct 
application of these provisions by operators. 

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i.e. a difference between the actual and the billed usage. 

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SMS 

Key points 

•  SMS prices have decreased by around 60 % on average. 

•  Prices  at  the  wholesale  level  and  for  the  Euro-SMS  offered  by  operators  are 

clustered at the level of the regulated caps. 

•  The  average  price  for  alternative  SMS  tariffs  is  higher  than  the  regulated  cap 
for Euro-SMS); the Euro-SMS tariff 

(€0.14 for Non-Euro SMS compared to €0.10 
offered by operators is generally the best option for consumers at this stage. 

Compliance with the price caps for SMS introduced at wholesale and retail levels has 
also been good and consumers are now benefiting from significantly lower prices for 
SMS roaming compared to the situation before the entry into force of the amending 
Regulation.  However,  prices  are  clustered  around  the  levels  of  the  caps  and 
competitive alternative tariffs have yet to develop. 

Figure 2 (Source: BEREC)  

There  has  been  a  significant  reduction  in  the  average  SMS  price  at  the  wholesale 
level, which fell from €0.13 before the entr y into force of the amending Regulation 
to €0.04 at the end of 2009. This reduction has not yet resulted in more competition 
at the retail level. 

The average price for the Euro-SMS tariff offered by operators was €0.10 at the end 
of 2009, while the regulated cap is €0.11. Co mpared with an average of €0.24 prior 
to the entry into force of these provisions, this represents a reduction of around 60 %.  

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It is also possible for operators to offer alternative tariffs; however there has not been 
much innovation thus far on alternative SMS tariffs across the EU. The price levels 
of these alternative tariffs vary significantly and the average price per SMS under the 
alternative tariffs was €0.14 at the end of  2009, which is considerably higher than the 
regulated cap. Only in very few Member States are there alternative tariffs which are 
more attractive than the regulated Euro-SMS tariff offered. In many Member States 
these alternative tariffs are at the level of the cap whilst in some Member States they 
are  considerably  higher,  in  some  cases  even  above  €0.20  per  SMS.  Therefore  the 
Euro-SMS tariff is, in the majority of cases, the best option for consumers. 

Data  

Key points 

•  Significant  reduction in wholesale  data  prices  (from  €

 1.2  to  €0.55  per  MB),  the 

average price is now well below the level of the regulated cap. 

•  Retail  data  prices  are  following  a  downward  trend  but  the  pass-through  of  the 

reductions at the wholesale level is still not fully apparent. 

•  Bill shocks are still a concern.  

The  amending  Regulation  introduced  a  wholesale  cap  for  data  roaming  services 
which  is  now  at  the  level  of  €1  per  MB,  charged  on  a  pe r  kilobyte  (kb)  basis.  The 
cut-off limit facility at the retail level was made available at the consumer's request 
as of 1 March 2010. Whilst the introduction of the wholesale price cap has led to a 
significant decrease  in  average  wholesale prices and average retail prices have also 
fallen,  consumers  are  not  yet  fully  benefiting  from  the  reductions  at  the  wholesale 
level and there are large divergences between Member States. 

Operators’ compliance with the wholesale price cap appears to have been good and 
the average wholesale charge has decreased significantly. The average price per MB 
was €0.55 at the end of 2009, which is considerably below the level of the regulated 
cap.  The  average  wholesale  price  before  the  entry  into  force  of  the  amending 
Regulation was €1.2 per MB, which means there has been a 50  % reduction. 

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EU/EEA averages for retail and wholesale data
(EU only for Q2, Q3 and Q4 2009)

€ 7,00

€ 6,00

€ 5,00

€ 4,00

€ 3,00

€ 2,00

€ 1,00

€ 0,00

Q4 2007

Q1 2008

Q2 2008

Q3 2008

Q4 2008

Q1 2009

Q2 2009

Q3 2009

Q4 2009

Retail off-net

Retail on-net

Wholesale non-group data

Wholesale group data

Figure 3 (Source: BEREC) 

As  Figure  3  above  shows,  the  average  retail  prices  for  data  are  also  following  a 
downward trend; however it is not clear whether the reductions at the wholesale level 
are being passed through to the retail prices in all cases. The average retail price per 
MB was €2.66 at the end of 2009, which is a 
large reduction from the beginning of 
2009 when the average price stood at €3.62. Ho wever the lower wholesale prices are 
giving rise to even greater margins for operators since retail prices have not fallen at 
the  same  pace.  Furthermore,  there  is  considerable  variation  between  countries; 
average retail prices in some Member States are around €4 per MB and even close to 
€6 per MB.  

to €5 per MB and ev en above €7 per MB. 

Furthermore,  operators’  standard  prices  remain  higher  than  the  average  referred  to 
above. Standard tariffs can be around €2 
The decline in the average data prices at retail level may therefore be explained by 
the  growth  of  flat-rate  or  bundled  offers  and  the  more  efficient  use  that  consumers 
make. In general operators have retained the practice of offering special packages on 
a  time  basis,  i.e.  mainly  on  a  daily  or  monthly  basis.  This  means  that  a  subscriber 
using  high  volumes  may  benefit  from  a  significant  reduction  in  the  price  paid  per 
MB whilst consumers using low data volumes in most cases will end up paying for 
more than they consume.  

Operators now benefit from a wholesale cap billed on a per kb basis and introduced 
to  avoid  a  repeat  of  the  billing  increment  issue  already  experienced  with  voice. 
Nevertheless,  operators  do  not  always  bill  customers  on  the  basis  of  actual 
consumption,  i.e.  on  a  per  kb  basis,  and  higher  billing  increments  such  as  10kb  or 
100kb are frequently used.  

Persistent high standard prices, together with the billing increments applied, continue 
to  lead  to  ‘bill  shocks’  for  consumers  in  some  cases.  It  is  expected  that  the  full 

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implementation of the cut-off limit as of 1 July 2010 will help eliminate these ‘bill 
shocks’. 

3.2. 

Traffic evolution 

Key points 

•  Volumes for voice, in particular for calls received, and SMS continue to grow.  

•  Data roaming services grew by more than 40 % in volume terms in 2009. 

In  order  to  assess  traffic  evolution  properly  it  is  necessary  to  refer  to  the  same 
periods every year, thereby taking the seasonal distribution of travel into account. 

In  general  terms,  developments  in  traffic  volumes  are  influenced  by  the  economic 
recession  and  the  reduction  in  travel  within  the  EU.  The  impact  of  the  Roaming 
Regulation  on  volumes  cannot  be  reliably  isolated  from  the  effects  of  the  overall 
economic situation.  

Despite  these  economic  developments,  as  Figure  4  below  shows,  consumers  have 
continued to make use of roaming services. This demonstrates consumer confidence 
and the benefits of the Roaming Regulation, particularly against the background of a 
recession  which  has  also  resulted  in  a  significant  decline  in  tourism  and  business 
travel7. Volumes of voice traffic for calls received and SMS roaming services have 
generally  grown  over  the  past  two  years,  with  a  seasonal  peak  during  the  third 
quarter of each year. Volumes for calls made over the last year have remained stable 
and even fell slightly in the second quarter of the year.  

EU/EEA trends in volume for retail voice calls and SMS
(Q4 2008 = 100)

250

200

150

100

50

0

Q2 2007

Q3 2007

Q4 2007

Q1 2008

Q2 2008

Q3 2008

Q4 2008

Q1 2009

Q2 2009

Q3 2009

Q4 2009

Retail voice - Calls made

Retail voice - Calls received

Retail SMS

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Figure 4 (Source: BEREC) 

A substantial increase in volumes was observed for SMS services following the entry 
into  force  of  the  amending  Regulation,  which  introduced  the  SMS  price  cap.  SMS 
volumes rose by 20 % in the third quarter of 2009 compared with the same quarter of 
2008,  indicating  that  the  lower  prices  and  increased  transparency  led  to  higher 
consumption.  

As  Figure  5  below  shows,  volumes  for  data  roaming  services  have  continued  to 
increase significantly, with a growth rate above 40 % in 2009. Given that mobile data 
is a growing service, this trend is expected to continue in the near future.  

Volumes of EU retail data (on-net and off-net combined)
(Q4 2008 = 100)

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Q2 2007

Q3 2007

Q4 2007

Q1 2008

Q2 2008

Q3 2008

Q4 2008

Q1 2009

Q2 2009

Q3 2009

Q4 2009

EU Total

Figure 5 (Source: BEREC) 

3.3. 

Transparency measures 

The  Roaming  Regulation  contains  a  number  of  transparency  measures  aimed  at 
ensuring that consumers are aware of roaming prices. In addition to notification on 
the applicable voice and SMS roaming charges, the home provider is also obliged to 
inform  the  roaming  customer  of  the  applicable  data  roaming  charges.  Although 
customers receive several separate messages, this enables them to be well-informed 
about  roaming  prices.  In  any  event,  consumers  can  request  their  operator  to  stop 
sending these SMSs on roaming price information.  

Some operators were not in a position to fulfil all the requirements of the amended 
Roaming  Regulation  on  1  July  2009,  but  in  most  cases  these  early  problems  were 
soon resolved. The NRAs monitor compliance in any remaining cases, which mainly 
concern new entrants (MVNO) which initiated activities after 1 July 2009. 

Moreover, and in order to eliminate ‘bill shocks’ when using data roaming services, a 
cut-off  limit  was  introduced  by  the  amended  Regulation.  Since  1  March  2010 

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operators  have  to  make  available  a  facility  whereby  consumers  can  specify  in 
advance  the  maximum  amount  they  want  to  spend  on  data  services  abroad.  A 
notification is sent upon reaching 80 % of this limit and, after it has been reached, the 
customer  must  be  given  the  option  of  continuing  to  receive  these  services.  As  of  1 
July  2010,  a  €50  cut-off  limit  will  apply  by  de fault  to  all  customers  who  have  not 
opted for another limit.  

The  implementation  of  this  facility  on  1  March  2010  was  generally  reported  to  be 
satisfactory. While some initial problems were reported, most of these now appear to 
have  been  solved.  NRAs  had  to  intervene  in  some  instances  to  ensure  compliance 
and one operator decided to prevent data roaming usage for prepaid customers until 
its  systems  had  been  fully  adapted  to  accommodate  the  cut-off  limit.  This  cut-off 
limit must be made available to all types of customers using data roaming services, 
both prepaid and postpaid8. 

NRAs are closely monitoring the implementation of these  provisions to ensure that 
the ‘cut off limit’ facility is correctly applied, in particular with an eye to 1 July 2010 
when  it  will  be  applied  to  all  customers.  Since  the  ‘cut-off  limit’  has  only  been 
available  since  1  March  2010  to  those  customers  specifically  requesting  it,  a  more 
detailed analysis concerning its overall implementation, and the consumer perception 
of it, will be included in the Commission’s 2011 review.  

4. 

PROGRESS TOWARDS ACHIEVING THE OBJECTIVES OF THE REGULATION 

The  main  objectives  of  the  Roaming  Regulation  are  to  promote  competition, 
consolidate  the  single  market  and  ensure  that  consumers  do  not  pay  unjustifiably 
high  prices  compared  to  domestic  charges  when  crossing  borders.  The  Roaming 
Regulation provides for the necessary conditions for competition to flourish, and the 
Commission  expects  operators  to  take  this  opportunity  to  develop  competitive 
roaming offers. 

The Regulation has been successful in providing adequate consumer protection and 
in  contributing  to  consolidate  the  internal  market;  this  has  been  achieved  mainly 
through the imposition of price caps. 

Price developments, as well as the diversity of offers, provide a good indication of 
the extent to which competition has grown. In this respect, for voice and SMS, the 
extent  to  which  operators  offer  prices  below  the  levels  of  the  regulated  caps  is 
considered  as  a  key  indicator  of  the  level  of  competition  in  the  market.  However, 
prices  for  voice  and  SMS  roaming  services  currently  remain  clustered  close  to  the 
levels  of  the  caps.  A  higher  margin  between  wholesale  and  retail  prices  for  the 
regulated  caps  on  voice  was  introduced  by  the  amending  Regulation  to  allow 
competition to develop at the retail level, in particular for alternative operators, but 
this has not yet been translated into greater price competition.  

There appear to be a variety of alternatives to the regulated Eurotariff and Euro-SMS 
tariff. For voice services, there are alternative tariffs with varying pricing structures 

8 
http://www.erg.eu.int/doc/publications/erg_09_24_final_roaming_regulation_erg_guidelines.pdf. 

See also point 27 of the revised ERG Guidelines on International Roaming Regulation available at:  

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(i.e.  limited  in  time,  with  a  monthly  subscription  or  with  a  set-up  fee,  billed  per 
minute).  The  average  price  per  SMS  under  the  alternative  tariffs  is  higher  than  the 
Euro-SMS  offered  by  operators.  In  some  Member  States  alternative  tariffs  for 
roaming SMS are significantly higher than the regulated cap. 

As for data roaming services, it is not yet clear whether the reductions in wholesale 
charges will result in competitive retail data roaming services. In this respect, since 
operators’ standard prices remain high, the extent to which customers are benefiting 
from  good-value  special  packages  provides  a  strong  indicator  of  whether  operators 
are passing through the benefits of lower wholesale data roaming tariffs. 

While average prices for data roaming services are falling, the average retail prices 
still present a substantial margin over the wholesale rates. Operators’ standard prices 
do not appear to have decreased, which means that the fall in average prices may be 
due to increased and more effective use of existing offers.  

It appears that roaming charges are still higher than domestic mobile services; prices 
for domestic services are generally declining, with increasing availability of flat-rate 
and  bundled  offers.  BEREC  is  examining  the  trends  in  both  roaming  and  domestic 
prices with a view to a full analysis in the 2011 review.  

It follows from the above that there are not yet sufficient competitive dynamics in the 
structure  of  roaming  services.  The  structural  problems  of  the  roaming  market, 
stemming  both  from  the  absence  of  competitive  constraints  on  the  supply  side  and 
from  demand  characteristics,  are  still  present.  In  particular,  the  roaming  market 
presents  specific  cross-border  characteristics  that  have  so  far  resulted  in  a  lack  of 
effective  competition  which  NRAs  have  not  been  in  a  position  to  address.  Even 
though the present system of price caps has brought benefits in terms of protecting 
consumers and furthering the internal market, it has not shown itself to be capable of 
solving these problems adequately.  

At  wholesale  level,  where  traffic  is  balanced  between  mobile  operators,  there  may 
not be sufficient incentive to set wholesale charges at  a  competitive  level.  Equally, 
however,  average  prices  for  non-group  wholesale  traffic  remain  close  to  the 
maximum  caps,  suggesting  that  the  competitive  dynamics  are  not  yet  strong.  In 
addition, end-users at retail level do not buy roaming services separately but together 
with domestic services.  

Technological developments and/or the alternatives to roaming services, such as the 
availability of VoIP or WiFi, may render the EU roaming market more competitive. 
While these alternatives, in particular  VoIP services, are increasingly being used at 
the  domestic  level,  there  have  been  no  significant  developments  in  their  use  when 
roaming.  

In  the  Commission’s  view,  effective  competition  is  intrinsic  to  a  well-functioning 
roaming market. Indicators of such competition include average prices which are not 
clustered  around  the  levels  of  the  regulated  caps  and  the  existence  of  alternative 
offers showing innovation and competitive dynamics. 

EN 

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5. 

CONCLUSION 

Overall,  implementation  of  the  amending  Roaming  Regulation  has  gone  smoothly 
and operators have complied with the new provisions, while NRAs are ensuring that 
this continues. Consumers are benefiting from reductions in the prices for voice and 
SMS roaming services and from increased transparency. The prices for data roaming 
have  also  fallen  but  consumers  are  not  yet  enjoying  fully  the  reductions  seen  at 
wholesale  level.  So  far,  competition  in  the  roaming  markets  has  not  developed 
sufficiently and structural problems persist.  

The  cut-off  limit  provision  will  apply  by  default  from  1  July  2010.  On  that  same 
date, new reductions on the glide paths will apply and in addition operators will not 
be able to levy any charge on consumers for receiving a voicemail while roaming.  

The  Commission  will  produce  its  full  review  of  the  functioning  of  the  Roaming 
Regulation by 30 June 2011. In that review, the Commission will evaluate whether 
the  objectives  of  the  Regulation  have  been  achieved.  To  this  end,  the  Commission 
will  review  the  developments  in  wholesale  and  retail  charges,  the  extent  of 
competition in the provision of roaming services and the quality of these services. It 
will also: 

•  assess the developments in mobile services at domestic level, 

•  examine the availability and quality of services alternative to roaming, in light of 

technological developments; 

•  assess  whether  there  are  methods  other  than  price  regulation  to  address  the 
structural  problems  of  the  roaming  market  and  create  a  competitive  internal 
market for roaming.  

The  2011  review  will  thus  analyse  whether  further  regulation  of  roaming  services 
will  still  be  necessary,  either  in  the  form  of  price  regulation  or  through  some 
alternative  long-term  approach,  or  whether  the  Regulation  should  expire  in  2012, 
leaving  roaming  services  to  market  forces  alone.  Whatever  the  approach,  it  should 
ensure that the benefits achieved so far are not lost. 

EN 

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   EN