Citizens of EU countries will continue to pay no mobile roaming charges when using their devices across borders within the bloc. Lawmakers extended the regulation to last at least until 2032.
From 2017, most phone tariffs count calls, texts and data used in EU countries as equivalent to home use. The regulation was due to expire on 1 July, but the EU extended it for a decade. So European consumers can continue to avoid most extra charges when travelling to another of the 27 EU Member States.
There are new additions to the regulation, including the requirement that citizens should have access to the same services abroad in the EU as at home when the same networks and technologies are available.
According to TechCrunch, while this quality service provision covers 5G, it does not guarantee the same mobile network speed when roaming. The commission says the new rules "aim to ensure that when similar quality or speeds are available on the visited network, the domestic provider should ensure the same quality of roaming service."
In addition, the updated regulation aims to increase transparency by requiring network providers to better inform customers about the types of services that may incur extra costs when roaming, such as calling customer service numbers, help desks and insurance companies. Customers should receive an SMS message about any additional roaming charges.
