EU regulator Berec has published guidelines for national regulators and consumers on how the new retail roaming regulations will apply from 15 June. From that date, operators can no longer apply surcharges for roaming and must allow customers to use their existing monthly bundles or pay the same rates as at home for roaming in the EU.
Nevertheless, the regulation does allow for some exceptions. Fair-use rules developed by the European Commission allow operators to levy extra charges if they find customers are consuming more while roaming than at home over a period of four months. The customer must prove he has particular ties, such as business, study or family, in the roaming destination in order to avoid extra charges for exceeding the 'fair use'. Additional limits apply for customers with unlimited or prepaid plans on how much free data roaming they can use.
If surcharges apply, they may not exceed the regulated wholesale rates for roaming in the EU. The sum of the domestic retail price plus the roaming surcharge is capped at EUR 0.19 per minute, EUR 0.06 per SMS and EUR 0.20 per MB. Charges for receiving calls while roaming cannot exceed the weighted average of maximum mobile termination rates across the EU.
In addition, the regulation allows operators that can show they are losing money on 'roam like home' to ask for a derogation from the rules while they adjust their business model. The operator must apply to the national regulator, which will evaluate its costs based on a model developed by Berec to determine sustainable roaming margins. The regulators will also look at whether the operator is part of an international group, the level of competition in the domestic market (e.g. would roaming losses lead to higher domestic prices) and whether the operator has taken full advantage of the fair-use rules.
Berec said operators looking to take advantage of the derogation from the start of the new regulations should apply to their national regulators by 15 May at the latest. Any opt-outs will be valid for a period of 12 months, after which the operator would need to apply again to the regulator to extend the period further. The amount of the surcharge authorised will be based on the amount needed to cover the operator's roaming costs.