14 Amendments of Ioannis A. TSOUKALAS related to 2011/0187(COD)
Amendment 64 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) The high level of voice, SMS and data roaming prices payable by users of public mobile telephone networks, such as students, business travellers and tourists, when using their mobile telephones and portable computational devices when travelling abroad within the Union is a matter of concern for consumers, national regulatory authorities, and the Union institutions. The excessive retail charges are resulting from high wholesale charges levied by the foreign host network operator and also, in many cases, from high retail mark-ups charged by the customer's own network operator. Reductions in wholesale charges are often not passed on to the retail customer. Although some operators have recently introduced tariff schemes that offer customers more favourable conditions and somewhat lower prices, there is still evidence that the relationship between costs and prices is far from what would prevail in competitive markets.
Amendment 68 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) The creation of a European social, educational and cult, cultural and entrepreneurial area based on the mobility of individuals and digital data should facilitate communication between people in order to build a real ‘Europe for Citizens’.
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) A common 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 and establishing data connections, 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.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) Until the structural solutions have brought sufficient competition in the roaming market, the most effective and proportionate approach to regulating the level of prices for making and receiving intra-Union roaming calls is the setting at Union level of a maximum average per- minute/per-gigabyte charge at wholesale level and the limiting of charges at retail level through the Eurotariff introduced in Regulation (EC) No 717/2007. The average wholesale charge should apply between any pair of operators within the Union over a specified period.
Amendment 101 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) This regulatory approach should be simple to implement and monitor in order to minimise the administrative burden both for the operators which are affected by its requirements and for the national regulatory authorities charged with its supervision and enforcement. It should also be transparent and immediately understandable to all mobile customers within the Union. Furthermore it should provide certainty and predictability to operators providing wholesale and retail roaming services. The level in monetary terms of the maximum per-minute/per- gigabyte charges at wholesale and retail level should therefore be specified in this Regulation.
Amendment 102 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) The maximum average per- minute/per-gigabyte charge at wholesale level so specified should take account of the different elements involved in the making of a Union-wide roaming call, in particular the cost of originating and terminating calls over mobile networks and including overheads, signalling and transit. The most appropriate benchmark for call origination and for call termination is the average mobile termination rate for mobile network operators in the Union, based on information provided by the national regulatory authorities and published by the Commission. The maximum average per- minute/per- gigabyte charge established by this Regulation should therefore be determined taking into account the average mobile termination rate, which offers a benchmark for the costs involved. The maximum average per-minute/per-gigabyte charge at wholesale level should decrease annually to take account of reductions in mobile termination rates imposed by national regulatory authorities from time to time.
Amendment 110 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 68
Recital 68
(68) Transparency also requires that providers furnish information on roaming charges, in particular on the Eurotariff and the all-inclusive flat-rate should they offer one, when subscriptions are taken out and each time there is a change in roaming charges. All information and offers should be presented in a clear, comprehensive, easily accessible and easily comparable form with regard to prices and service characteristics. Home providers should provide information on roaming charges by appropriate means such as sms, invoices, the internet, TV advertisements or direct mail. Home providers should ensure that all their roaming customers are aware of the availability of regulated tariffs for the period concerned and should send a clear and unbiased communication to these customers describing the conditions of the Eurotariff and the right to switch to and from it.
Amendment 114 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 71
Recital 71
(71) In order to facilitate customers' understanding of the financial consequences of the use of regulated data roaming services and to permit them to monitor and control their expenditure, the home provider should give examples for data roaming applications, such as e-mail, picture and web-browsing and mobile applications usage, by indicating their approximate size in terms of data usage.
Amendment 164 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Article 4 – paragraph 4
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 threone months.
Amendment 243 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 5
Article 7 – paragraph 5
5. Any roaming customer may request to switch to or from a Eurotariff. Any switch must be made within one working day of receipt of the request and free of charge and shall not entail conditions or restrictions pertaining to other elements of the subscription, save that where a roaming customer who has subscribed to a special roaming package which includes more than one roaming service (namely, voice, SMS and/or data) wishes to switch to a Eurotariff, the home provider may require the switching customer to forego the benefits of the other elements of that package. A home provider may delay a switch until the previous roaming tariff has been effective for a minimum specified period not exceeding threone months.
Amendment 265 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 6
Article 9 – paragraph 6
6. Any roaming customer may request to switch to or from a Euro-SMS tariff at any time. Any switch must be made within one working day of receipt of the request and free of charge and shall not entail conditions or restrictions pertaining to elements of the subscription other than roaming. A home provider may delay such a switch until the previous roaming tariff has been effective for a minimum specified period not exceeding threone months. A Euro- SMS tariff may always be combined with a Eurotariff.
Amendment 271 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 1
Article 11 – paragraph 1
1. With effect from 1 July 2012 the average wholesale charge that the operator of a visited network may levy from the roaming customer's home provider for the provision of regulated data roaming services by means of that visited network shall not exceed a safeguard limit of EUR 0,350, EUR 0,240 as of 1 July 2013 and EUR 0,130 as of 1 July 2014 per megigabyte of data transmitted. Without prejudice to Article 13 the maximum average wholesale charge for the provision of regulated data roaming services shall remain at EUR 0,130 per megigabyte of data transmitted for the duration of this Regulation.
Amendment 293 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
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 10,90 per megigabyte. The price ceiling for data used shall decrease to EUR 0,760 and EUR 0,530, per megigabyte used on 1 July 2013 and on 1 July 2014 respectively. Without prejudice to Articles 13 and 19, the regulated maximum retail charge shall remain at EUR 0,530, per megigabyte used until 30 June 2016.
Amendment 301 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 5
Article 12 – paragraph 5
5. Any roaming customer may request to switch to or from a Euro-data tariff respecting their contractual conditions at any point in time. Any switch must be made within one working day of receipt of the request and free of charge and shall not entail conditions or restrictions pertaining to elements of the subscription other than roaming. A home provider may delay such a switch until the previous roaming tariff has been effective for a minimum specified period not exceeding threone months. A Euro- data tariff may always be combined with a Euro-SMS tariff and a Eurotariff.