Mobile Operators Lose Case against EU Roaming Regulation
Four British mobile operators lost their bid to overturn a cap imposed by the European Commission on the roaming fees they can charge customers when traveling abroad.
Europe’s highest court, the Court of Justice in Luxembourg, said the EU had the right to impose price caps on roaming charges in the interest of promoting the European internal market.
The British operators Vodafone, Telefonica O2, T-Mobile and Orange aimed to overturn a price-capping regime that came into force in 2007.
The court ruled that the EU could legitimately impose caps using legal provisions that were designed to protect the functioning of its single market. It cited the persistently high level of roaming charges as one reason why the EU was entitled to take action.
The “… high level of retail charges had been regarded as a persistent problem by public authorities and consumer protection associations,” the court said in a statement.
The court also said that “the level of retail charges for international roaming services at the time of the adoption of the regulation was high, and the relationship between costs and charges was not such as would prevail in fully competitive markets”.
Roaming fees fell sharply when the roaming regulation came into effect, to a maximum of EUR0.49 a minute for outgoing calls and EUR0.24 for receiving calls. The regime has been extended to data downloads and text messages.
The EC welcomed the ruling. EU telecoms commissioner Neelie Kroes wants to see roaming fees disappear entirely by 2015, but has not yet announced any concrete steps.
As of July 2010, the current roaming regulation imposes lower charges, setting a maximum rate of EUR0.39 per minute for making a call when abroad and EUR0.15 for receiving one.
Customers will also have to set a limit on how much they want to pay for using data services abroad, or be set a default of EUR50. They will get a warning when they come close to their limit and will be cut off when they go beyond it.
Source: AP, FT
