BETA

Activities of Ioan ENCIU related to 2011/0187(COD)

Plenary speeches (1)

Roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union (debate)
2016/11/22
Dossiers: 2011/0187(COD)

Amendments (29)

Amendment 58 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 a (new)
(1a) The objective of reducing the difference between national and roaming tariffs so as to approach zero by 2015 was proposed by the Commission in the Benchmarking Framework 2011- 2015 and subsequently endorsed by the EU Member States in November 20091. This target is also included in the Commission Communication "A Digital Agenda for Europe"2. __________________ 1 http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/ee urope/i2010/docs/benchmarking/benchma rking_digital_europe_2011-2015.pdf 2 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions "A Digital Agenda for Europe" (COM(2010) 245.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 b (new)
(1b) A single telecoms market cannot be said to exist while significant price differences exist between domestic and roaming prices; therefore the ultimate aim should be to eliminate roaming charges altogether, thus establishing a pan-EU mobile communications market.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 69 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
(14) A common, harmonized approach should be employed for ensuring that users of terrestrial public mobile communication networks when travelling within the Union do not pay excessive prices for Union-wide roaming services when making or receiving voice calls, sending text messages or using the internet, thereby enhancing competition concerning roaming services between mobile operators, achieving a high level of consumer protection and preserving both incentives for innovation and consumer choice. In view of the cross- border nature of the services concerned, this common approach is needed so that mobile operators can operate within a single coherent regulatory framework based on objectively established criteria.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 76 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
(18) In order to allow for the development of a more efficient, integrated and competitive market for roaming services, there should be no restrictions that prevent undertakings from effectively negotiating wholesale access for the purpose of providing roaming services. However, at present there are obstacles to the access to such wholesale roaming services, due to differences in negotiating power and in the degree of infrastructure ownership of undertakings. The removal of these obstacles would facilitate the development of alternative and innovative roaming services and offers for customers, in particular from virtual network operators. It would also facilitate the development of pan-European services.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 96 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
(27) The transitory Eurotariff should be set at a safeguard level which, whilst ensuring that the existing consumer benefits are preserved during a transitional period of implementing the structural solutions, guarantees a sufficient margin to operators and encourages competitive roaming offerings at lower rates. During the period concerned, operators should actively bring to the attention of the customers information about the Eurotariff and offer a Eurotariff to all their roaming customers, free of charge, and in a clear and transparent manner.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 103 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32
(32) During the transitional period of safeguard caps, all consumers should be informed about and have the option of choosing without additional charges or preconditions a simple roaming tariff which will not exceed regulated rates. A reasonable margin between wholesale costs and retail prices should ensure that operators cover all their specific roaming costs at retail level including appropriate shares of marketing costs and handset subsidies and are left with an adequate residual to yield a reasonable return. A transitory Eurotariff is an appropriate means to provide both the consumer with protection and the operator with flexibility. In line with the wholesale level the maximum levels of the Eurotariff should decrease annually.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 33
(33) During the transitional period of safeguard caps, new roaming customers should be fully and actively informed of the range of tariffs that exist for roaming within the Union, including the tariffs which are compliant with the transitory Eurotariff. Existing roaming customers should be given the opportunity to choose a new tariff compliant with the transitory Eurotariff or any other roaming tariff within a certain time frame. For existing roaming customers who have not made their choice within this time-frame, it is appropriate to distinguish between those who had already opted for a specific roaming tariff or package before the entry into force of this Regulation and those who had not. The latter should be automatically accorded a tariff that complies with this Regulation. Roaming customers who already benefit from specific roaming tariffs or packages which suit their individual requirements and which they have chosen on that basis should remain on their previously selected tariff or package if, after having been reminded of their current tariff conditions, they fail to express a choice within the relevant time period. Such specific roaming tariffs or packages could include, for example, roaming flat-rates, non-public tariffs, tariffs with additional fixed roaming charges, tariffs with per-minute charges lower than the maximum Eurotariff or tariffs with set-up charges.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 108 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 67
(67) In order to improve the transparency of retail prices for making and receiving regulated roaming calls within the Union and to help roaming customers make decisions on the use of their mobile telephones while abroad, providers of mobile telephony services should enablesupply their roaming customers easily to obtainwith information free of charge on the roaming charges applicable to them when making or receiving voice calls in a visited Member State. Moreover, providers should actively give their customers, on request and free of charge, additional information on the per- minute or per-unit data charges (including VAT) for the making or receiving of voice calls and also for the sending and receiving of SMS, MMS and other data communication services in the visited Member State. Since certain customer groups might be well informed about roaming charges operators should provide a possibility to easily opt-out from this automatic message service.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 115 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
1. This Regulation introduces a common approach to ensuringbring about a truly single market in mobile communications. The first step is to put in place an interim period to ensure that users of public mobile communications networks when travelling within the Union do not pay excessive prices for Union-wide roaming services in comparison with competitive national prices, when making calls and receiving calls, when sending and receiving SMS messages and when using packet switched data communication services, thereby contributing to the smooth functioning of the internal market while achieving a high level of consumer protection, fostering competition and transparency in the market and offering both incentives for innovation and consumer choice. The second step is to put in place the necessary measures which would make it possible to abolish the concept of roaming within the EU altogether, ensuring identical prices throughout the EU.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 116 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
It lays down rules to guarantee the separate sale of roaming services from domestic mobile communications services and the conditions for wholesale access to public mobile telephone networks for the purpose of provision of roaming services. It also lays down transitory rules on the charges that may be levied by mobile operators for the provision of Union-wide roaming services for voice calls and SMS messages originating and terminating within the Union and for packet switched data communication services used by roaming customers while roaming on a mobile communications network in another Member State. It applies both to charges levied between network operators at wholesale level and to charges levied by home providers at retail level.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 123 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point m
(m) ‘alternative roaming provider’ means a home provider, different from the operator providing domestic mobile communication services, that provides a roaming customer with roaming services via its own network or as a mobile virtual network operator or reseller;deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point o
(o) ‘European Union (EU) roaming profile’ means a preconfigured profile for the provision of separate roaming services, which is provided in addition to a profile for the provision of domestic mobile services on the same SIM card.deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 151 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4
Article 4 Separate sale of roaming services 1. Home providers shall enable their subscribers to access voice, SMS and data roaming services of any interconnected alternative roaming provider. 2. With effect from 1 July 2014, home providers shall inform all their roaming customers of the possibility to unsubscribe from their existing roaming services and to opt for roaming services from an alternative roaming provider. The roaming customers shall be given a period of two months within which to make their choice known to their home provider. Roaming customers who have not expressed their choice within that period shall have the right to opt for an alternative roaming provider at any moment, in line with paragraphs 3 and 4. 3. The customer's choice for an alternative roaming provider shall not entail any associated subscription or other fixed or recurring charges by the home provider and shall be possible with any retail tariff plan. 4. Any switch to or from an alternative roaming provider shall be free of charge and shall not entail conditions or restrictions pertaining to elements of the subscription other than roaming, and shall be carried out within five working days, save that where a roaming customer who has subscribed to a domestic package which includes roaming prices other than the Eurotariff, Euro-SMS tariff or Euro- data tariff, the home provider may delay the switch from the old to the new subscription concerning roaming services for a specified period not exceeding three months. 5. At the time of making or renewing a contract on mobile communication services, home providers shall provide all customers individually with full information on the possibility to choose an alternative roaming provider and facilitate the conclusion of a contract with an alternative roaming provider. Customers concluding a contract with the home provider for roaming services shall explicitly confirm that they have been informed of such possibility. The providers of mobile communications services shall not prevent retailers serving as their points of sale to offer contracts for separate roaming services with alternative roaming providers. 6. The home provider or the operator of a visited network shall not alter the technical characteristics of roaming services provided by an alternative roaming provider in such a way as to make them differ from the technical characteristics, including the quality parameters, of roaming services provided by the operator providing domestic mobile communications services.deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 180 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 a (new)
Article 4 a With effect from 1 July 2014, the retail prices for calls, SMS and data use shall be identical, irrespective of whether the customer is roaming or not. Until 30 June 2014, the retail price caps as prescribed by Articles 7, 9 and 12 shall have effect.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 181 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5
Facility for separate sale of roaming services In order to ensure the development of the single market, implementation of the technical solutions for the facility of separate sale of roaming services shall take place simultaneously across the Union. For the purpose of separate sale of roaming services, operators shall make sure that facilities are in place by 1 July 2014 at the latest, to ensure that the customer can use domestic mobile services and separate roaming services offered by an alternative roaming operator while keeping their mobile number. In order to enable the separate sale of roaming services, operators may in particular allow the use of a ‘EU roaming profile’ on the same SIM card and the use of the same terminal alongside domestic mobile services. Pricing for interconnection related to the provision of this facility shall be cost-orientated and there should be no direct charges to consumers for the use of this facility. BEREC, after consulting stakeholders and in close co-operation with the Commission, shall lay down within a reasonable period of time not exceeding three months after the adoption of this Regulation guidelines with regard to harmonised technical solutions relating to the facility for separate roaming services and to harmonised procedures to change the provider of roaming services. Upon a reasoned request from the BEREC, the Commission may extend that period. If necessary, the Commission could give a mandate to a European Standardisation Body for the adaptation of the relevant standards that are necessary for the harmonised implementation of the facility.deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 227 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
2. The retail charge (excluding VAT) of a Eurotariff which a home provider may levy from its roaming customer for the provision of a regulated roaming call may vary for any roaming call but shall not exceed EUR 0,320 per minute for any call made or EUR 0,1104 per minute for any call received as of 1 July 2012 . The price ceiling for calls made shall decrease to EUR 0,2815 and EUR 0,2410 on 1 July 2013 and on 1 Julanuary 2014 respectively, and for calls received to EUR 0,103 on 1 July 2013 . Without prejudice to Articles 13 and 19 tThese regulated maximum retail charges for the Eurotariff shall remain valid until 30 June 20164 when price differentiation between domestic and roaming calls will no longer be possible.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 252 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2
2. With effect from 1 July 2012 , the retail charge (excluding VAT) of a Euro-SMS tariff which a home provider may levy from its roaming customer for a regulated roaming SMS message sent by that roaming customer may vary for any roaming SMS message but shall not exceed EUR 0,10 . Without prejudice to Articles 13 and 19, t07. The price ceiling shall decrease to 0,06 on 1 July 2013 and to 0,05 on 1 January 2014.The regulated maximum retail charge for the Euro-SMS tariff shall remain at EUR 0,105 until 30 June 20164 when price differentiation between domestic and roaming SMS messages will no longer be possible.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 284 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
2. With effect from 1 July 2012, the retail charge (excluding VAT) of a Euro-data tariff which a home provider may levy from its roaming customer for the provision of a regulated roaming data shall not exceed EUR 0,950 per megabyte. The price ceiling for data used shall decrease to EUR 0,730 and EUR 0,520, per megabyte used on 1 July 2013 and on 1 Julanuary 2014 respectively. Without prejudice to Articles 13 and 19, tThe regulated maximum retail charge shall remain at EUR 0,520, per megabyte used until 30 June 20164 when price differentiation between domestic and roaming data will no longer be possible.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 305 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13
Conditions for advance non-application of maximum wholesale and retail charges 1. In order to assess the competitive development in the roaming markets BEREC shall collect regularly data on the development of retail and wholesale charges for voice, SMS and data roaming services. These data shall be notified to the Commission, at least twice a year. The Commission shall make them public. 2. If, after 30 June 2018, the average wholesale charge for one of the roaming services (voice, SMS or data) for unbalanced traffic between operators that do not belong to the same group falls to 75% or less of the maximum wholesale charges provided for in Articles 6(2), 8(1) and 11(1), the maximum wholesale charges for the roaming service concerned shall no longer apply. The Commission shall regularly verify, on the basis of the market data collected by BEREC, whether this condition is met and, if so, it shall publish without delay in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union the data proving that the maximum wholesale charges no longer apply for the service concerned. 3. If, following the implementation of the separate sale of roaming services referred to in Article 5 and before 1 July 2016, the average retail charge at the Union level falls to 75% or less of the maximum retail charges provided for in Articles 7(2), 9(2) and 12(2), the maximum retail charges for that roaming services shall no longer apply. The Commission shall regularly verify, on the basis of the market data collected by BEREC, whether this condition is met and, if so, it shall publish without delay in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union the data proving that the maximum retail charges no longer apply for the service concerned. 4. The relevant maximum charges shall cease to apply as from the first day of the month following the publication of the data proving that the conditions of paragraphs 2 or 3 respectively are satisfied.Article 13 deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 321 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 2
2. In addition to paragraph 1, customers shall have the right to request and receive, free of charge, and irrespective of their location within the Union, more detailed personalised pricing information on the roaming charges that apply in the visited network to voice calls, SMS, MMS and other data communication services, and information on the transparency measures applicable by virtue of this Regulation, by means of a mobile voice call or by SMS. Such a request shall be to a free-of-charge number designated for this purpose by the home provider. Obligations provided for in paragraph 1 shall not apply to machine to machine (M2M) type of devices that use mobile communication.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 323 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2
Home providers shall take the necessary steps to secure awareness byactively inform all their roaming customers of the availability of the Eurotariff, the Euro-SMS tariff and the Euro-data tariff. They shall in particular communicate to all roaming customers the conditions relating to the Eurotariff, the conditions relating to the Euro-SMS tariff and by 30 June 2012 the conditions relating to the Euro-data tariff as defined in Article 12, in each case in a clear and unbiased manner. They shall send a reminder at reasonable intervals thereafter to all customers who have opted for another tariff.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 330 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Where appropriate, hHome providers shall inform their customers, before the conclusion of a contract and on a regular basis thereafter, of the risk of automatic and uncontrolled data roaming connection and download. Furthermore, home providers shall explain to their customers, in a clear and easily understandable manner, how to switch off these automatic data roaming connections in order to avoid uncontrolled consumption of data roaming services.
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 344 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The Commission shall review the functioning of this RegIn order to bring about the necessary changes for a single market in mobile phone communications, as required in Article 4a, the Commission, after consultation and, after a public consultationwith BEREC and other relevant stakeholders, shall preportsent a new proposal to the European Parliament and the Council no later than 30 June 2015 . The Commission shall evaluate in particular whether the objectives of this Regulation have been achieved. In so doing, the Commission shall review, inter aliaby 1 January 2013 at the latest, which should also include a proposal to update the wholesale caps for the period between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2020 taking into account the developments in wholesale charges for the provision of voice, SMS and data communication services:
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 348 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – indent 1
– the developments in wholesale and retail charges for the provision to roaming customers of voice, SMS and data communication services, and the corresponding development in mobile communications services at domestic level in the Member States, both for pre-paid and post-paid customers separately, and in the quality and speed of these services;deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 349 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – indent 2
– the availability and quality of services including those which are an alternative to roaming (voice, SMS and data), in particular in the light of technological developments;deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 350 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – indent 3
– the extent to which consumers have benefited through real reductions in the price of roaming services or in other ways from reductions in the costs of the provision of roaming services and the variety of tariffs and products which are available to consumers with different calling patterns;deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 352 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – indent 4
– the degree of competition in both the retail and wholesale markets, in particular the competitive situation of smaller, independent or newly started operators, including the competition effects of commercial agreements and the degree of interconnection between operators;deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 353 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – indent 5
– the extent to which the structural solutions foreseen in Articles 3 and 4 have produced results in developing competition in the roaming market.deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 357 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 2
2. If the report shows that the structural measures provided for by the present Regulation are not sufficient to promote competition in the roaming market for the benefit of European consumers, the Commission shall make appropriate proposals to the European Parliament and the Council to address this situation. The Commission shall examine, in particular, whether it is necessary to modify the structural measures or to extend the duration of any of the maximum retail charges foreseen in Articles 7, 9 and 12.deleted
2011/12/21
Committee: ITRE