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EC sticks to cuts in roaming charges - report
2013-09-03 10:41:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) Roaming charges will be abolished in the EU, according to the latest draft proposal seen by the Wall Street Journal. While Reuters earlier reported that the plans to scrap roaming charges had been removed from the proposed telecom single-market package, the WSJ has now found it was only the wholesale price caps that were removed. The EC still wants to end higher retail prices for roaming, and plans to encourage operators to form cross-border alliances to offer customers roaming packages. According to the draft proposals seen by the WSJ, the cross-border bundles would allow consumers to use their minutes, SMS and data allowances abroad on the same tariff as at home, or pay the declining retail price caps already in place. Any collective roaming agreement would require the involvement of networks in at least 21 member states, representing 85 percent of the population of the EU, and offer at least one retail package where the roaming rate is the same as at home. The proposed legislation also says companies may no longer charge roaming fees for calls received while abroad. "We don't have a running commentary on our draft proposals, but we want to make clear they will propose a method for ending roaming charges," said Ryan Heath, spokesman for Neelie Kroes, the commissioner in charge of telecom issues. She will set out the legislative proposal on 11 September, and it must then be approved by the Parliament and Council.
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Category:Telecommunications