Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

Post by Symbiote » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 1:06 PM UTC

filleokus wrote: post #86

endijs wrote: post #63

This idea was good. But in reality what happened in Latvia was very simple and expected move by telcos - all three of them raised prices for all subscriptions by about 3€-4€ monthly (which is ~30% increase). Yes, now you can feel better while traveling, however everyone now pays extra every single month. For some situation now is better, while others pay for it even if they do not need such freedom. Those who are in…

Same thing happening in Sweden as well. Many people in the comments here are saying that their bills haven't been raised, but at least here in Sweden the price are only raised for new contracts. There is also (AFAIK) some limits on this. I.e, you cannot get a contract in a cheap neighbouring country and use it all the time roaming from you home country. To unify all EU telco markets and increase competition between c…

Post by andmarios » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 1:06 PM UTC

mamon wrote: post #146

andmarios wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no free market. There can be only so many telcos in one country anyway, so instead of a race to the bottom, telcos of each country form cartels. In Greece for example, we have 3 mobile operators and they announce exactly the same changes to their plans within a couple weeks difference. Things like “we increase our basic plan by 5 euros” or “you have to top up your prepaid phone at least once every 3 months i…

In Poland it actually is a race to the bottom: there are 4 different mobile operators and every time one of them announce a new offer it usually is cheaper than anything already on the market. And within few weeks other 3 usually follow with similar price cuts. EU's roaming regulation is the latest example: 3 operators announced tariffs that pretended to make roaming free, but have multiple strings attached. But the…

Post by dorian-graph » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 1:06 PM UTC

matteuan wrote: post #28

rdl wrote: post #17

What is the correct European SIM to buy for data/voice/etc. (prepaid)? Presumably best to get one from a country you don't actually visit much, so you're always roaming, and thus don't pay the home to foreign number charges?

There is a limit of 4 months of roaming usage per year.

Post by Symbiote » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 1:10 PM UTC

martinald wrote: post #74

matthewmacleod wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that the price of foreign calls will be affected – everything is simply charged at the home plan rate. Calling e.g. a French number will cost the same regardless of whether I am in France or the UK.

Incorrect. The regulation only applies when roaming. To take three UK for example: Calling Spain from the UK: 46p/min Calling Spain from France while roaming: inclusive in minutes allowance, otherwise 3p/min. I also checked Vodafone.de and it's the same thing - nearly €1/min if you're in Germany, or inclusive if you're roaming. It's a bit of a joke really. I don't know why the EU didn't think of this.

Post by Symbiote » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 1:11 PM UTC

danmaz74 wrote: post #156

wim wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless your provider’s plan includes calling abroad at domestic rates, calling a foreign number from home will be more expensive than calling that same foreign number from another member state. It’s a rather absurd consequence of the fact that it was decided that any communication from the state your provider is in (calls, data usage, etc.) is not technically “roaming”, and therefore not part of the “Roam like at hom…

Suppose I have an Italian SIM and pay x to call Italian numbers, and 2x to call French ones. If I go to France, with these rules, I think I'll still pay x to call Italian numbers, and 2x to call French ones?