Brussels hosted last 19 May a meeting of BEREC’s expert working group on International Roaming, co-chaired by the national regulatory authorities (NRAs) of Austria (Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications) and Spain (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia).
The meeting’s main agenda point focused on discussion of ongoing work concerning the definition of reasonable usage policies for roaming services in the scope of Roam Like at Home (RLAH) and definition of the sustainability mechanism which according to the Roaming Regulation will enable operators to request authorisation from the NRA of the country where they operate for the application of roaming service surcharges, if they can show that application of RLAH will not allow them to cover the costs they incur for the provision of those services.
Also discussed was the current situation of the review of the wholesale roaming market. Plans call for the European Commission’s respective legislative proposal to be presented in June 2016.
The participants also debated issues concerning implementation of the Roaming Regulation during the transition period (up to June 2017), to clarify the approach to be taken by the various NRAs with a view to facilitating uniform application of that regulation throughout the European Union/European Economic Space.
Progress in drawing up the Benchmark Report was also considered, with indication that the information gathering process was under way.
