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Review of the Roaming Regulation
Since June 2017, end-users in the European Union (EU) have been able to use their mobile phones for calls, SMS and data when traveling in the EU just as they do at home with no extra cost. This is the so-called “Roam like at Home” (RLAH) regime, a tangible benefit for consumers and businesses in the EU, fostering the Digital Single Market.
In 2022, the RLAH rules were revised and extended for an additional 10 years. The new and improved rules increase consumer benefits and protection. New provisions have been added on quality of services as well as improved rules on emergency communications, value-added services (e.g. premium-rate numbers) and connection to non-terrestrial networks to enhance consumer information and ultimately avoid unexpected surcharges. Lastly, the regulated wholesale price caps were further substantially decreased with a glidepath set until 2027.
The Roaming Regulation mandates the Commission to submit, by 30 June 2025, a review report to the European Parliament and to the EU Council assessing the functioning of the roaming market. This is the purpose of this report and its accompanying Staff Working Document.
Main findings
The RLAH regime is still relevant and continues to bring concrete benefits to the EU consumers
Since 2017, the introduction of RLAH has triggered an immediate and massive increase in retail roaming traffic compared to the pre RLAH values. In recent years, mobile data consumption while roaming has continued to increase. The decreasing wholesale caps have led to a constant and continuing increase in the roaming data allowances that are benefiting EU consumers and has addressed the raising need for roaming volumes.
Despite increasing volumes, the RLAH regime did not and does not negatively impact the domestic tariff structure and price trends in EU/EEA countries.
This confirms how successful and effective the RLAH regime is in bringing concrete benefits to the EU end-users, allowing them to stay connected in the same way as in their home country while they are periodically travelling in the RLAH area.
The regime remains sustainable for operators
The safeguard provided under the Roaming Regulation are also effective in making the regime sustainable for operators. “Fair use policy” mechanisms are widely implemented by operators (80% of operators applied at least one of the “Fair use policy” measures in 2024). While the mechanisms remain commonly applied by operators, it is worth noting that the majority of roaming customers never reach these limits (only 4.65% of roamers in Q3 2024), making the application of the surcharges beyond any “Fair use policy” limits or application of other measures exceptional.
In addition, operators still have the option to apply for “sustainability derogations,” which, under strict conditions, allow them to impose retail surcharges to ensure the sustainability of their domestic charging model if it is at risk. In recent years, there has been a clear decrease in the number of operators in need for derogations.
Finally, analysis of the wholesale prices shows that they steadily declined in the recent years, also thanks to the glidepath introduced in the 2022 recast. The latter triggered competitive market dynamics among operators offering wholesale roaming access below those caps.
The RLAH area will be extended to new countries
The EU has already made steps towards extending the RLAH area to countries within the EEA and lately also to some candidate countries. Ukraine and Moldova have progressed well on the path towards joining the EU RLAH area. Ukraine has fully aligned with EU roaming legislation, and, on this basis, the Commission proposed to the Council the inclusion of Ukraine into the EU RLAH area, with a transition period for the operators to adapt.
Technological developments do not call for changes in the regime
The Commission has also assessed the evolution of the connectivity market for Machine-to-Machine (M2M)/Internet of Things (IoT) use cases finding a generally effective competitive environment with both direct and indirect competitive constraints. The development of the M2M/IoT market will continue to be monitored to ensure the Roaming Regulation’s adequacy for its specific needs.
The Commission will continue to monitor the roaming market
As in 2019, the review shows that the underlying basic competition conditions have not changed substantially and are not likely to change in the foreseeable future.
The overall framework of the Roaming Regulation has proven to be effective, also in intensifying competition and creating dynamics at wholesale level.
Overall, the findings of this report do not call into question the general principles underlying the Regulation, which should be maintained. This is especially important as this successful European framework is soon set to be extended to other non-EU countries.
Next steps
As required by the Roaming Regulation, the Commission will carry out another ‘interim’ review report due by 30 June 2027. The Commission will also continue to undertake periodic review of the implementing act, assessing potential market developments, as provided for in Article 7 of the Roaming Regulation.
You can download the full report below.