‘Roam like at home’ for 10 more years

Roaming Regulation extends this scheme until 2032

Today, July 1, the new improved Roaming Regulation enters into force. This Regulation extends the ‘roam-like-at-home’ scheme until 2032.

For the past 10 years, European citizens travelling in other EU countries have benefitted from the ‘roam like at home’ scheme. This scheme allows us to make calls, text, and browse the web while travelling in other EU countries at no extra cost.

Under this Regulation, new rules have been included that will bring about significant benefits for EU businesses and citizens, who will enjoy a better roaming experience, with the same quality of mobile service abroad as they have at home.

The new rules guarantee clear information about services that may be subject to extra charges, as operators will be obliged to protect consumers and notify them if their phone switches from on-board network, normally used on boats or planes, to non-terrestrial networks that may be subject to very high surcharges.

Furthermore, consumers should be able to make informed decisions about using services that may subject them to additional costs. Therefore, under the new rules, operators will have to make sure to provide consumers with information about the types of phone numbers that may carry additional costs when consumers dial or access them from abroad.

The new roaming rules also improve access to emergency communication across the EU, as the new rules will ensure that citizens are aware of the single EU emergency number 112, which they can use anywhere in the EU to reach emergency services.

The new roaming regulation sets lower inter-operator prices. This ensures that the operators can sustain and recover the cost of providing roaming services to consumers when they are abroad for domestic prices. This will benefit consumers, as lower inter-operator prices should ensure that all operators are able to offer competitive roaming subscriptions in line with the ‘roam like at home' principle.

More information on the new EU Roaming rules can be found here.

Information on using a mobile phone in the EU can be found here.