‘Roam like at home’ agreement to be extended to 2032

After six hours of intense negotiations, the Council and Parliament reached a provisional agreement to extend the “roam like at home” agreement to 2032. 

The scheme means that people can continue to make calls, text and browse the web while travelling in other EU countries, without the fear of a shock when they get their bill, after the current roaming regulation expires on 30 June 2022.

Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market, said: “Spending holidays in Greece, Austria or Bulgaria. Visiting customers or suppliers in Italy or Estonia… Travelling abroad without having to worry about phone bills is a tangible part of the EU Single Market experience for all Europeans. Today we are not only ensuring that this experience continues, but we are upgrading it: better quality, better services, even more transparency.”

The lead MEP Angelika Winzig (EPP, AT) said: “We are creating a fairer roaming market, especially focusing on smaller operators by significantly cutting the wholesale caps. As European Parliament chief negotiator, it was my goal to improve the situation significantly for consumers”, she said. “We succeeded in ensuring a new regulation that delivers exactly that, while also providing enough flexibility to react to new developments in the telecom and technological sectors. This way we make sure that the EU constantly has its finger on the pulse.”

The regulation was originally adopted in 2015 and came into force in 2017 and was due to end in June 2022

Better quality

MEPs secured a provision to prohibit practices that reduce the quality of roaming services (e.g. by switching the connection from 4G to 3G), consumers will be entitled to the same quality and speed of mobile connection abroad as at home. Roaming providers will be obliged to offer the same roaming quality as those offered domestically, including 5G, if the same conditions are available on the network in the visiting country. 

When a traveller uses a non-terrestrial network, when they are on a plane or boat for example, the new regulation guarantees better information and an automatic interruption of the service when the bill reaches a cost of €50. Operators may offer additional services, such as the possibility to opt out from roaming on planes and boats.

Sustainable for operators

The new roaming regulation sets caps on the charges that hosting operators can charge the visiting operator, making it easier for the operator to sustain the cost of providing roaming services.

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