Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 November 2012
156. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if any particular comparisons have been made with other EU jurisdictions on the extent to which mobile phone roaming charges apply; if particular EU jurisdictions have by one means or another a more beneficial application of such charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53587/12]
View answerThe provision of mobile telephone roaming services within the EU is governed by “EU Regulation 531/2012 of 13 June 2012 on roaming on public mobile communications networks”. This Regulation is the third in a series of such regulations which commenced in 2007 to increase the level of consumer protection over time for customers using roaming services.
The current Regulation, which commenced on the 1 July 2012, among other things, continues the process of imposing reductions in the maximum permitted retail charges for roaming services within the EU over time and requires the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) to collect data on roaming charges which is made public.
The most recent BEREC report on this matter for the period July-December 2011, which was published in May 2012, concludes that average EU retail prices for roaming voice and SMS services are close to the permitted EU price caps. This indicates there are no significant price variations between member states for these services.
Regulation of the maximum retail price for roaming data services first commenced on 1 July last under the current EU Regulation and price comparisons, benchmarked to the permitted price cap, are not yet available.
