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Roaming

Relevant community information

The relevant EU information on roaming can be found here, in particular the Regulations of the European Parliament and of the Council, as well as the guidelines issued by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), which, while not constituting a legal interpretation of the Regulations, are complementary.

On 29 November 2015, Regulation (EU) no. 2015/2120https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1373317 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 entered into force. This regulation has changed some of the rules which govern roaming, as set out in Regulation (EU) no. 531/2012https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1132567 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2012, and also establishes measures concerning access to the open Internet. Meanwhile, those provisions of Regulation (EU) no. 531/2012 which are unchanged by the new regulation continue to remain in force.

On 17 December 2015, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2352https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1374818 of 16 December 2015 entered into force; this Regulation set the value of the weighted average of maximum mobile termination rates in the European Union at 0.0114 euros per minute (value subject to annual review).

On 4 January 2017, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2292 of the European Commission (EC) of 16 December 2016 entered into force, setting out the weighted average of maximum mobile termination rates across the European Union. This regulation sets the weighted average of maximum mobile termination rates in the European Union at 0.0108 euros per minute (value subject to annual review) and repeals Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2352.

The rules set out in Regulation (EU) no. 2015/2120 and in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2292 are as follows:

  • In the case of roaming communications within the European Economic Area (EEA)1, as from 15 June 2017, operators are required to implement Roam Like at Home (RLAH)2.
  • Accordingly, charges for customer communications between EEA countries cannot exceed the tariffs which customers pay for national communications (in the case of calls, SMS, MMS and video-calls made, this price may not exceed the price paid for communications to other national networks). However, even with this rule, operators are permitted to implement a fair use policy (FUP) for the roaming service, so that, if a customer exceeds the limits or rules of this FUP, the prices charged for their roaming communications may be increased by specified surcharges also set by the Commission.

The FUP may be implemented by operators for roaming by:

i. Setting a specific limit on the consumption of data in roaming between EEA countries. This limit must be calculated in accordance with the criteria3 defined in Regulation (EU) 2016/2286https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1401619 of 15 December 2016. This limit can only be applied where tariffs comply with certain conditions, also set forth in this regulation. Beyond this limit, when setting the price of data communications in roaming, operators may, as a rule, add a surcharge to the national price of the data communications.

Customers should check whether, as from 15 June 2017, the tariff subscribed to at a national level has specific limits for data communications in roaming.

For other communications, the operator may not set specific consumption limits for roaming between EEA countries and therefore, if the customer has subscribed to a national tariff whose monthly charge includes a certain volume of free national calls/SMS/MMS, the same volume should also be discounted and be free of charge when roaming, until the corresponding limit is reached. For details on maximum prices, surcharges and consumption limits for roaming allowed for different types of communications under different types of tariffs, see Table 1.

ii. Establishment of control mechanisms, based on objective indicators, to prevent abusive or anomalous usage of the roaming service outside the context of periodic EEA travel. Indicators may include measures to determine whether customers exhibit consumption patterns which are typical of roaming and indicators to determine whether a customer’s prevailing presence is within national territory or is in other EEA countries. Observation of these presence and consumption indicators must be carried out for a period of at least four months. Where an operator concludes that there is objective and reasoned evidence indicating abusive or anomalous usage of roaming by a customer, the operator must warn the customer about the situation before applying any surcharge.

For details of maximum prices and surcharges for calls, SMS and data applicable to cases where there is breach of these rules on abusive or anomalous usage of the roaming service between EEA countries, see Table 2 (below).

iii. Request of evidence from roaming customers to prove that they are habitually resident in or have stable ties with Portugal.

For details of maximum prices and surcharges for calls, SMS and data applicable to cases where customers decline to provide evidence that they are habitually resident in or have stable ties with Portugal, see table 2.

In their contracts with roaming customers, the operator must include all terms and conditions associated with the FUP, where the operator chooses to implement it. Therefore, customers should check that, as from 15 June 2017, this information is included in their contract.

Notes
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1 European Union countries and Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
2 Unless they demonstrate to the regulator that they are unable to recover the costs incurred in connection with the provision of roaming services.
3 In tariffs classified as "open data bundles" in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/2286 of 15 December 2016, customers of roaming services should have the possibility, when periodically travelling in the EEA, to consume at least a certain volume of retail data services in roaming, paying the national price. This volume is equivalent, as a minimum, twice the volume which is obtained by taking the national retail price of this "open data bundle" excluding VAT for the entire billing period, and dividing this price by the maximum roaming tariff regulated at wholesale level (6.00 euros/Gb, as from 1 January 2018), as referenced in article 12 of Regulation (EU) no. 531/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2012https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1132567. In the case of pre-paid tariffs charged per unit of consumption, the operator may establish that the consumption of roaming data services in the EEA is to be charged at the national retail price only up to a certain volume equivalent to at least the volume which is obtained by taking the total amount (excluding VAT) of the remaining credit available and already paid by the customer to the operator and dividing this value by the maximum roaming tariff regulated at wholesale level (6.00 euros/Gb, as from 1 January 2018), as referenced in article 12 of Regulation (EU) no. 531/2012.
4 Maximum surcharge.
5 Except when the national price is higher. In this case, no surcharge is applicable, and the roaming price may not exceed the domestic price.
6 Based on the price for domestic calls originated and terminated on different communications networks.
7 Based on the price for national SMS messages originated and terminated on different communications networks.
8 Use was made of the conversion rule whereby 1Gb = 1000 Mb, as under the Roaming Recommendation Guidelines and recital 17 of Regulation (EU) 2017/920 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1411654.

Further information:

  • BEREC - Wholesale Roaming Guidelines http://berec.europa.eu/eng/document_register/subject_matter/berec/regulatory_best_practices/guidelines/7116-berec-guidelines-on-regulation-eu-no-5312012-as-amended-by-regulation-eu-20152120-and-by-regulation-eu-2017920-wholesale-roaming-guidelines