From next Saturday, 30 April, the prices of roaming calls will be cut. In the case of incoming calls, the price will fall by 77%, from 5 cents per minute to 1.14 cents per minute (excluding VAT).
Under the rules of Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of 25 November 2015https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1373317, the price of roaming calls will be brought into line with prices charged in the consumer's home country (price of calls terminating on other networks), subject to a surcharge of five cents per minute, and exactly the same rule will apply to data traffic (national price plus five cents per megabyte). In the case of sent SMS messages, the price will also be the same as the price charged in the user’s national market, plus a surcharge of two cents (all prices excluding VAT).
These prices will be effective from 30 April 2016 until 15 June 2017. Then, from 15 June 2017, no additional fee may be applied on top of the national retail price charged when a customer makes or receives roaming calls, sends SMS messages or uses data services in any Member State of the European Union.
However, the Regulation allows operators to apply a so-called fair use policy. If roaming is used in a manner which exceeds the limits of this policy, a small fee may be charged, not exceeding the cap on wholesale charges that operators pay for using the networks of other EU countries. The European Commission, supported by BEREC, will have until 15 December 2016 to define the limits of "fair use". Operators may also, in exceptional situations, if they are able to demonstrate that they cannot recover the costs associated with providing roaming, charge a price other than the national price.
In addition to the prices set by the Regulation, operators may offer their customers other roaming tariffs, so it is important that consumers check with their providers before travelling.
To publicise the changes in roaming pricing, ANACOM has launched an information campaign in the press, radio and on the Internet, urging consumers to contact their operators before travelling.
