Telecoms groups warn over end to EU roaming

Telecoms executives have described proposed European Union laws for a single European telecoms market as little more than “a headline grabbing move” that will deny them €7 billion of “roaming” customer charges while doing little to address broader investment issues.

Their reactions came after learning the details of unpublished draft legislation from Neelie Kroes, the EU commissioner for telecommunications. The centerpiece of the 56-page set of proposals is the elimination of roaming charges – one of the most profitable sources of revenues for mobile operators, by next year. A study commissioned by Etno, the European telecoms industry body, showed that such a move would cut mobile operators’ cash flow by up to €7bn by 2020, and could have a negative effect on investment in mobile networks. Under the plans, companies would be forced to offer customers EU-wide mobile packages. “Difference between roaming and domestic tariffs [charged by mobile carriers within the 28 country bloc] should approach zero,” the document said. But while the draft legislation includes more industry-friendly initiatives, such as spectrum harmonization, it does not propose any changes to how the European Commission would view mergers and acquisitions.