Activities of Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA related to 2021/0045(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Roaming Regulation (recast) (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union (recast)
Amendments (26)
Amendment 27 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) As Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 expires on 30 June 2022, the aim of this Regulation is to recast it while introducing new measures to increase transparency, including on the use of value added services in roaming and ensure a genuine RLAH experience in terms of quality of service and access to emergency services while roaming. The duration of this new Regulation is set for 10 years, until 2032, to provide certainty in the market and minimise regulatory burden while introducing a mechanism for intervening at wholesale level in the interimreview on the wholesale level and rules on the deployment of new network technologies accompanied by a legislative proposal if market developments so require.
Amendment 44 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) Therefore an obligation to meet reasonable requests for wholesale access to public mobile communications networks for the purpose of providing roaming services should be laid down . Such access should be in line with the needs of those seeking access. End-users of services requiring modern technologies and retail roaming services should be able to enjoy the same quality of service when roaming as domestically. A wholesale roaming access obligation should therefore ensure that access seekers can replicate the retail services offered domestically, unless mobile network operators requested to provide access can prove that it is technically unfeasi, operationally and commercially unsustainable to do so. Access should be refused only on the basis of objective criteria, such as technical feasibility and the need to maintain network integrity. Where access is refused, the aggrieved party should be able to submit the case for dispute resolution in accordance with the procedure set out in this Regulation. In order to ensure a level playing field, wholesale access for the purpose of providing roaming services should be granted in accordance with the regulatory obligations laid down in this Regulation applicable at the wholesale level and should take into account the different cost elements necessary for the provision of such access. A consistent regulatory approach to the wholesale access for the provision of roaming services should contribute to avoiding distortions between Member States. BEREC should, in coordination with the Commission and in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders, issue guidelines for wholesale access for the purpose of providing roaming services.
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) Roaming customers should, to the greatest extent possible, be able to use the retail services that they subscribe to and benefit from the same level of quality of service as at home, when roaming in the Union. To that end, roaming providers should take the necessary measures to ensure that regulated retail roaming services are provided under the same conditions as if such services were consumed domestically. In particular, the same quality of service should be offered to customers when roaming, if technically, operationally and commercially feasible.
Amendment 76 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 43
Recital 43
(43) In order to improve the transparency of retail prices for roaming services and to help roaming customers make decisions on the use of their mobile devices while abroad, providers of mobile communication services should supply their roaming customers with information free of charge on the roaming charges applicable to them when using roaming services in a visited Member State. Providers of mobile communication services should also inform consumers of the use of non-terrestrial networks on aircrafts and vessels and the cut-off limit that applies to protect them from bill- shocks. Such information should be provided as soon as the mobile device accesses such non-terrestrial networks. Since certain customer groups might be well informed about roaming charges, roaming providers should provide a possibility to easily opt-out from this automatic message service. In addition, roaming customers should be provided with a text message including a link to a web page giving detailed information about the types of services (calls and SMS) that may be subject to increased costs. Moreover, providers should actively give their customers, provided that the latter are located in the Union, on request and free of charge, additional information on the per- minute, per-SMS or per-megabyte 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.
Amendment 80 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 44
Recital 44
(44) This Regulation should in relation to regulated retail roaming services lay down specific transparency requirements aligned with the specific tariff and volume conditions applicable following the abolition of the retail roaming surcharges . In particular, provision should be made for roaming customers to be notified, in a timely and user-friendly manner and free of charge, of the applicable fair use policy, when and before the applicable fair use volume of regulated voice, SMS or data roaming services is fully consumed, of any surcharge, and of accumulated consumption of regulated data roaming services and for using non-terrestrial networks in aircrafts and vessels such as boats or ferries.
Amendment 84 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 50 a (new)
Recital 50 a (new)
(50 a) There can be no discrimination between Union citizens when living or working in cross-border areas with third countries. The RLAH should be included in future negotiations with Union neighbouring third countries.
Amendment 91 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 59
Recital 59
(59) It is necessary to monitor and to review regularly the functioning of wholesale roaming markets and their interrelationship with the retail roaming markets, taking into account competitive and technological developments and traffic flows. The Commission should submit twoone reports to the European Parliament and to the Council. In its biennial reports, the Commission should, in particular, assess whether RLAH has any impact on the evolution of tariff plans available on the retail markets. That should include, on the one hand, an assessment of any emergence of tariff plans that include only domestic services and that exclude retail roaming services altogether, thus undermining the very objective of RLAH and, on the other, an assessment of any reduction in the availability of flat-rate tariff plans, which could also represent a loss for consumers and undermine the objectives of the digital single market. The Commission’s reports should, in particular, analyse the extent to which exceptional retail roaming surcharges have been authorised by national regulatory authorities, the ability of home network operators to sustain their domestic charging models and the ability of visited network operators to recover the efficiently incurred costs of providing regulated wholesale roaming services. In addition, the Commission’s reports should assess how, at wholesale level, access to the different network technologies and generations is ensured; the level of usage of trading platforms and similar instruments to trade traffic at wholesale level; the evolution of the machine-to- machine roaming; the persisting problems at retail level in relation to value added services and the application of the measures on emergency communications . The Commission´s report should assess the impact of the deployment and implementation of new network technologies and the impact of cybersecurity incidents, among others. In order to enable such reporting with a view to assessing how the roaming markets adapt to RLAH rules, sufficient data should be gathered on the functioning of those markets after the implementation of those rules.
Amendment 97 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 62
Recital 62
(62) In order to ensure that the maximum wholesale charges areis Regulation is based on recent and updated data, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission to amend the maximum wholesale charges that a visited network operator can levy on the roaming provider for the provision of regulated voice, SMS or data roaming services by means of that visited network. This Regulation should lay down the detailed criteria and parameters on the basis of which the values of those maximum wholesale charges are set. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making69 . In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts. _________________ 69Commission should monitor closely the developments in the roaming market as laid down in this Regulation. The report shall be accompanied by a legislative proposal addressing changes in the maximum wholesale charges and developments due to the deployment and implementation of new network technologies. OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 63
Recital 63
(63) Since the objectives of this Regulation, namely to provide for a common approach for ensuring that users of public mobile communications networks, and users of non-terrestrial networks in aircrafts and vessels, when travelling within the Union, do not pay excessive prices for Union-wide roaming services in comparison with competitive national prices, while increasing transparency and ensuring sustainability of the provision of retail roaming services at domestic prices as well as a genuine RLAH experience in terms of quality of service and access to emergency services while roaming, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point d
(d) ‘visited network’ means a terrestrial public mobile communications network situated in a Member State other than that of the roaming customer’s domestic provider that permits a roaming customer to make or receive calls, to send or receive SMS messages or to use packet switched data communications, by means of arrangements with the home network operator;
Amendment 109 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1
Article 3 – paragraph 1
1. Mobile network operators shall meet all reasonable requests for wholesale roaming access , in particular allowing the roaming provider to replicate the retail mobile services offered domestically, when technically feasible, operationally and commercially feasible and informing the consumer in a transparent manner .
Amendment 125 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2
Article 5 – paragraph 2
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Mobile network operators will not intentionally or fraudulently prevent, if there are no technical problems, the access of companies that have to use their network.
Amendment 134 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 b (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. As a general principle where the same generation of mobile communication networks and technologies are available on the visited network, the roaming provider shall offer regulated roaming services under same conditions than offered domestically. If the roaming providers offers inferior conditions than offered domestically, it shall inform users and indicate whether it is due to technical, commercial or any other reason.
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 1
Article 12 – paragraph 1
1. The average wholesale charge that the visited network operator may levy on the roaming provider for the provision of regulated data roaming services by means of that visited network shall not exceed a safeguard limit of EUR 2,00,80 per gigabyte of data transmitted. That maximum wholesale charge shall decrease to EUR 10,50 per gigabyte of data transmitted on 1 January 2025 and shall, without prejudice to Articles 21, 22 and 23 remain at EUR 10,50 per gigabyte of data transmitted until 30 June 2032 .
Amendment 183 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Where appropriate, roaming 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, roaming providers shall notify to their customers, free of charge and, in a clear and easily understandable manner and accessible for people with disabilities, how to switch off these automatic data roaming connections in order to avoid uncontrolled consumption of data roaming services.
Amendment 184 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
2. An automatic message from the roaming provider shall inform the roaming customer, in an accessible manner for everyone including disabled people, that the latter is using regulated data roaming services, and provide basic personalised tariff information on the charges (in the currency of the home bill provided by the customer’s domestic provider) applicable to the provision of regulated data roaming services to that roaming customer in the Member State concerned, except where the customer has notified the roaming provider that he does not require that information.
Amendment 185 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
The information shall be delivered to the roaming customer’s mobile device in an accessible manner for everyone including disabled people, for example by an SMS message, an e-mail or a pop-up window on the mobile device, every time the roaming customer enters a Member State other than that of his domestic provider and initiates for the first time a data roaming service in that particular Member State. It shall be provided free of charge at the moment the roaming customer initiates a regulated data roaming service, by an appropriate means adapted to facilitate its receipt and easy comprehension.
Amendment 186 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 3
Article 15 – paragraph 3
3. The roaming provider shall send a notification in an accessible manner for everyone including disabled people when the applicable fair use volume of regulated data roaming service is fully consumed or any usage threshold applied in accordance with Article 7 is reached. That notification shall indicate the surcharge that will be applied to any additional consumption of regulated data roaming services by the roaming customer. Each customer shall have the right to require the roaming provider to stop sending such notifications and shall have the right, at any time and free of charge, to require the roaming provider to provide the service again.
Amendment 190 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 7 – introductory part
Article 15 – paragraph 7 – introductory part
7. This Article, with the exception of paragraph 6, the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 and paragraph 3, and subject to the second and third subparagraphs of this paragraph, shall also apply to data roaming services used by roaming customers travelling outside the Union and provided by a roaming provider and to data roaming services used by roaming customers when using non-terrestrial networks in vessels and aircrafts.
Amendment 207 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – introductory part
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – introductory part
new1. The Commission shall , after consulting BEREC, submit twoone reports to the European Parliament and to the Council. Where necessary, after submitting eachthe report, the Commission shall adopsubmit a delegated act pursuant to Article 22islative proposal amending the maximum wholesale charges for regulated roaming services laid down in this Regulation. The first such report shall be submitted by 30 June 2025 and the second by 30 June as well as any other modification needed due to the deployment and implementation of new network technologies. The report shall be submitted by 30 June 2025. The legislative proposal shall be submitted by 31 December 2029 7.
Amendment 229 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – subparagraph 1 – point k a (new)
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – subparagraph 1 – point k a (new)
(k a) the impact of cybersecurity incidents
Amendment 230 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – subparagraph 1 – point k b (new)
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – subparagraph 1 – point k b (new)
(k b) the impact of the deployment and implementation of new network technologies
Amendment 237 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22
Article 22
Amendment 244 #
Amendment 252 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I
Annex I