IP/09/1064
Brussels, 1 July 2009 New roaming rates As of today, sending a text message from abroad in the EU costs a maximum €0.11, almost three times cheaper than the previous EU average of €0.28 (excl. VAT). To make a roamed call in another EU country must not cost more than €0.43 per minute, and no more than €0.19 to receive a call. From today, outgoing roaming calls will be charged by the second, after the first 30 seconds, rather than by the minute, and incoming calls will be charged by the second from the first second. Holidaymakers and business travellers can also surf the web, download movies or send photos with their mobile without fear of ‘bill shocks’ while roaming thanks to a wholesale cap of € 1 per megabyte (MB) downloaded. All these measures are expected to cut roaming charges for EU consumers by a further 60% and increase mobile phone use. The EU first acted on roaming in 2007 reducing the cost of voice roaming calls by 70%. "From today, all Europeans making calls or sending texts with their mobiles can experience the EU's single market without borders. The roaming-rip off is now coming to an end thanks to the determined action of the European Commission, the European Parliament and all 27 EU Member States," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding. "I expect the new EU roaming rules to make it much cheaper to surf the web on your mobile while abroad in the EU. For now, EU rules are limited to reducing inter-operator charges. I call on the mobile industry to pass these savings on to data roaming customers swiftly. The Commission and national regulators will monitor data roaming charges very carefully and assess next year whether the roaming market is finally becoming competitive." The new EU roaming rules which are applicable as of today: Limit the consumer price for sending a text message while abroad to €0.11 (excl. VAT), compared to a current average €0.28. Further reduce prices for mobile roaming calls. As of today, caps are €0.43 for calls made and €0.19 for calls received abroad, falling to €0.39 and €0.15 on 1 July 2010 and to €0.35 and €0.11 on 1 July 2011 (prices per minute, excl. VAT). Until yesterday, the maximum price was €0.46 for calls made and €0.22 for calls received abroad. In summer 2005, before EU action, a roamed call in the EU could cost around €1.70 per minute for a German roaming in Austria, €1.47 for a Briton roaming in Italy and €2.50 for a Belgian calling from Cyprus (MEMO/05/247). Introduce per-second billing after 30 seconds for roamed calls made and from the first second for calls received abroad. Until now, consumers paid up to 24% more than the time actually used making or receiving calls. Reduce the cost of surfing the web and downloading movies or video programs with a mobile phone while abroad with a new wholesale cap of €1 per MB downloaded, compared to an average wholesale price of € 1.68 per MB, with peaks in Ireland (€6.82), Greece (€5.30) and Estonia (€5.10). The wholesale cap for downloading will fall during the next two years: to €0.80 in 2010 and €0.50 in 2011. Consumers will be informed on what they will pay for data services, as the new rules require mobile operators to provide (via an SMS or pop-up window) free, country-specific information on roaming charges to their customers when they enter another Member State and use data services. The new rules will also protect consumers from "bill shocks" by introducing a cut-off mechanism once the bill reaches €50, unless they choose another cut-off limit (recently, a German downloading a TV programme while roaming in France faced a bill of €46,000). Operators have until March 2010 to put this cut-off limit in place. The new roaming rules, which build on the first EU Roaming Regulation (IP/07/870), will apply until summer 2012. The European Parliament and Council have asked the Commission to report on the new rules' functioning by summer 2010. The Commission could then propose further rules, if required, by the end of June 2011. Background:
The 2007 EU Roaming Regulation, introduced "Euro tariff" caps for calls made and received while travelling in the EU. As a result, Euro tariff roaming consumers saved on average 70% compared to 2005, before the EU acted. The , introduced "Euro tariff" caps for calls made and received while travelling in the EU. As a result, Euro tariff roaming consumers saved on average 70% compared to 2005, before the EU acted. In 2008, after reviewing the roaming rules, the Commission proposed extending them for 3 more years, with new rules for text messages and data services. The European Parliament approved, by a large majority, the new EU roaming rules in April 2009 (IP/09/620), followed by the Council of EU Telecoms Ministers on 8 June (IP/09/880). Since the present Commission took office in 2004, mobile phone use has grown from 84.6% to 119% of the total EU population (IP/09/473). For an overview of roaming tariffs by EU country, see the EU Roaming Website: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/index_en.htm MEMO/09/309 IP/09/1064
Brussell, l-1 ta’ Lulju 2009 Rati ġodda għar-roaming. Mil-lum stess, il-prezz ta' messaġġ testwali mibgħut minn barra l-pajjiż fl-UE jiswa massimu ta' €0.11, kważi tliet darbiet inqas mill-medja ta' qabel fl-UE ta' €0.28 (mingħajr il-VAT). Sejħa bir-roaming għal pajjiż ieħor tal-UE ma għandhiex tiswa iktar minn €0.43 kull minuta, u mhux iktar minn €0.19 biex tirċievi sejħa. Mil-lum, it-tariffi tas-sejħiet li jsiru bir-roaming, se jiġu ddebitati bis-sekonda, wara l-ewwel 30 sekonda, minflok bil-minuta, u t-tariffi tas-sejħiet riċevuti se jiġu ddebitati bis-sekonda mill-ewwel sekonda Persuni li qegħdin vaganza u dawk li jivvjaġġaw minħabba n-neġozju jistgħu jużaw l-internet ukoll, iniżżlu films jew jibagħtu ritratti bil-mowbajl tagħhom bir-roaming mingħajr il-biża li jieħdu qatgħa meta jasal il-kont, bis-saħħa tal-limitu massimu għall-operaturi ekonomiċi. Dawn il-miżuri kollha huma mistennija li jnaqqsu t-tariffi tar-roaming għall-konsumaturi tal-UE b'60% iktar u li jżidu l-użu tal-mowbajl. L-UE ħadet l-ewwel azzjoni fuq ir-roaming fl-2007 meta naqqset il-prezz tas-sejħiet bir-roaming bil-vuċi b'70%. "Mil-lum, l-Ewropej kollha li jċemplu jew jibagħtu messaġġi bil-mowbajls tagħhom jistgħu jesperjenzaw is-suq uniku tal-UE mingħajr fruntieri. Is-serq fil-prezzijiet tar-roaming issa wasal biex jispiċċa bis-saħħa tal-azzjoni determinata mill-Kummissjoni Ewropea, il-Parlament Ewropew u s-27 Stat Membru kollha tal-UE." qalet il-Kummissarju tat-Telekomunikazzjonijiet Viviane Reding. "Nistenna li r-regoli l-ġodda tar-roaming se jnaqqsu bil-ħafna l-ispiża tal-użu tal-internet mill-mowbajl meta wieħed ikun barra 'l pajjiż fl-UE. Għalissa, ir-regoli tal-UE huma limitati għat-tnaqqis tat-tariffi bejn l-operaturi. Inħeġġeġ lill-industriji tal-mowbajls biex dan l-ffrankar jgħadduh malajr lill-konsumaturi tad-dejta bir-roaming. Il-Kummissjoni u r-regolaturi nazzjonali se jimmontorjaw b'attenzjoni t-tariffi tar-roaming tad-dejta u s-sena d-dieħla se jivvalutaw jekk is-suq tar-roaming finalment huwiex qed isir kompetittiv jew le" qalet il-Kummissarju tat-Telekomunikazzjonijiet Viviane Reding.Ir-regoli ġodda tal-UE dwar ir-roaming li huma applikabbli mil-lum: Limitu ta' €0.11 (mingħajr VAT) għall-prezz ta' konsumatur li jibagħat messaġġ testwali minn barra l-pajjiż, imqabbel mal-medja attwali ta' €0.28. Iktar tnaqqis fil-prezzijiet għal sejħiet bil-mowbajl bir-roaming. Mil-lum, il-limiti massimi huma ta' €0.43 għal sejħiet li jsiru u €0.19 għal sejħiet imwieġba waqt is-safar, li jinżlu għal €0.39 u €0.15 fl-1 ta' Lulju 2010 u għal €0.35 u €0.11 fl-1 ta' Lulju 2011 (prezzijiet kull minuta mingħajr VAT). Sal-bieraħ, il-prezz massimu kien ta' €0.46 għal-sejħiet li jsiru u €0.22 għal sejħiet riċevuti waqt is-safar. Fis-sajf tal-2005, qabel ittieħdet l-azzjoni tal-UE, sejħa bir-roaming fl-UE kellha mnejn tiswa madwar €1.70 kull minuta għal Ġermaniż li juża r-roaming fl-Awstrija, €1.47 għal ċittadin tar-Renju Unit li juża r-roaming fl-Italja u €2.50 għal Belġjan li jċempel minn Ċipru (MEMO/05/247). L-introduzzjoni tal-prinċipju tal-kont bis-sekonda għall-ewwel 30 sekonda għal sejħiet roaming magħmula u mill-ewwel sekonda għas-sejħiet riċevuti waqt is-safar. Sa issa, il-konsumaturi qed iħallsu madwar 24% aktar mill-ħin li fil-fatt jikkunsmaw meta jagħmlu jew iwieġbu s-sejħiet. Tnaqqis sostanzjali fit-tariffi tal-użu tal-internet u biex jitniżżlu fims jew programmi bil-vidjos b'mowbajl meta wieħed ikun imsiefer b'limitu massimu għall-operaturi ekonomiċi ta' €1 għal kull megabyte imniżżel, meta mqabbel mal-prezz medju għall-operaturi ekonomiċi ta' of €1.68 il-megabyte, bl-ogħla tariffi fl-Irlanda (€6.82), il-Greċja (€5.30) u l-Estonja (€5.10). Il-limitu massimu għall-operaturi ekonomiċi għad-downloading se jonqos matul is-sentejn li ġejjin: sa €0.80 fl-2010 u €0.50 fl-2011. Il-konsumaturi se jkunu informati dwar x'se jħallsu għas-servizzi tad-dejta, minħabba li r-regoli l-ġodda se jirrikjedu lill-operaturi tal-mowbajls jipprovdu (permezz ta' sms jew pop-up window) informazzjoni speċifika għal pajjiż dwar it-tariffi tar-roaming, bla ħlas lill-konsumaturi tagħhom meta dawn jidħlu fi Stat Membru ieħor u jużaw is-servizzi tad-dejta. Ir-regoli l-ġodda se jipproteġu lill-konsumaturi mill-"qtajja' tal-kontijiet" bl-introduzzjoni mekkaniżmu li jaqta' s-servizz meta l-kont jitla' sa €50, sakemm il-konsumatur ma jagħżilx limitu ta' qtugħ ieħor (reċentament Ġermaniż li kien qed iniżżel programmi mit-televiżjoni bir-roaming fi Franza kellu jħabbat wiċċu ma' kont ta' €46,000). L-operaturi għandhom sa Marzu 2010 biex idaħħlu fis-seħħ il-limitu ta' qtugħ tas-servizz. Ir-regoli l-ġodda dwar ir-roaming, li jżidu mal-ewwel Regolament tal-UE dwar ir-Roaming (IP/07/870), se japplikaw sas-Sajf tal-2012. Il-Parlament Ewropew u l-Kunsill talbu lill-Kummissjoni biex tirrapporta, sas-Sajf 2010, dwar kif ikunu qegħdin jaħdmu r-regoli l-ġodda. Il-Kummissjoni tista' mbagħad tipproponi aktar regoli, jekk meħtieġa, sa tmiem Ġunju 2011.Sfond:
Iktar tnaqqis fil-prezzijiet gMil-lum, il-limiti massimi huma ta' €0.43 gSal-biera2.50 gIktar tnaqqis fil-prezzijiet gMil-lum, il-limiti massimi huma ta' €0.43 gSal-biera2.50 gIr-Regolament tal-UE dwar ir-Roaming 2007, (2007 EU Roaming Regulation), introduċa l-limiti massimi tal-"Euro tariff" għal sejħiet li saru u dawk riċevuti waqt l-ivjaġġar fl-Ewropa. Bħala riżultat, konsumaturi tar-roaming bl-Euro tariff iffrankaw medja ta' 70% mqabbla mal-2005, qabel ma ħadet azzjoni l-UE. Fl-2008, wara r-reviżjoni tar-regoli tar-roaming, il-Kummissjoni pproponiet li testendihom għal 3 snin, b'regoli ġodda għall-messaġġi testwali u għas-servizzi tad-dejta. F'April tal-2009 l-Parlament Ewropew approva, b'maġġoranza kbira, ir-regoli l-ġodda tar-roaming tal-UE (IP/09/620), u wara fit-8 ta' Ġunju segwa wkoll il-Kunsill tal-Ministri tat-Telekomunikazzjoniet tal-UE (IP/09/880). Minn mindu fl-2004 l-Kummissjoni preżenti ħadet il-kariga tagħha, l-użu tat-telefonija mobbli fl-UE kiber minn 84.6% għal 119% tal-popolazzjoni totali tal-UE ( IP/09/473). Għal ħarsa ġenerali fuq it-tariffi tar-roaming ta' kull pajjiż tal-UE, ara l-Websajt tar-Roaming tal-UE: http://ec.europa.eu/infomation_society/activities/roaming/index_en.htm MEMO/09/309 Annex click here FAQ click here |