8 Amendments of Alessandra BASSO related to 2021/0045(COD)
Amendment 35 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital (14)
Recital (14)
(14) In order to allow for the development of a more efficient, integrated and competitive market for roaming services, there should be no restrictions preventing undertakings from effectively negotiating wholesale access for the purpose of providing roaming services. Obstacles to access to such wholesale roaming services, due to differences in negotiating power and in the degree of infrastructure ownership of undertakings, should be removed. To that end, wholesale roaming access agreements should respect the principle of technology neutrality and ensure all operators an equal and fair opportunity to accessing all networks and technologies available and be negotiated in good faith allowing the roaming provider to offer where possible retail roaming services equivalent to the services offered domestically. Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and resellers of mobile communication services without their own network infrastructure typically provide roaming services based on commercial wholesale roaming agreements with their host mobile network operators in the same Member State. Commercial negotiations, however, may not leave enough margin to MVNOs and resellers for stimulating competition through lower prices. The removal of those obstacles and balancing the negotiation power between MVNOs/resellers and mobile network operators by an access obligation and wholesale caps should facilitate the development of alternative, innovative and Union-wide roaming services and offers for customers. Directive (EU) 2018/1972 does not provide for a solution to this problem via the imposition of obligations on operators with significant market powers.
Amendment 37 #
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, where possible, 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 unfeasible 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 46 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital (29)
Recital (29)
(29) Roaming providers should be able to apply a ‘fair use policy’ to the consumption of regulated retail roaming services provided at the applicable domestic retail price. The ‘fair use policy’ is intended to prevent abusive or anomalous usage of regulated retail roaming services by roaming customers, such as the use of such services by roaming customers in a Member State other than that of their domestic provider for purposes other than periodic travel. Roaming providers should, in cases of force majeure caused by circumstances such as pandemics or natural catastrophes which involuntarily extend the period of temporary stay of the roaming customer in another Member State, consider extending the applicable fair use allowance for an appropriate period, upon a justified request by the roaming customer . Any fair use policy should enable the roaming provider’s customers to consume volumes of regulated retail roaming services at the applicable domestic retail price that are consistent with their respective tariff plans.
Amendment 50 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 35
Recital 35
(35) A contract which includes any type of regulated retail roaming service should specify the characteristics of that regulated retail roaming service, including the expected level of quality of serviceclear and comprehensible information on the expected level of quality of service. Such information should be provided in line with BEREC’s retail roaming guidelines. The provider should make available information on relevant factors that can affect the quality of service, such as availability of certain technologies, coverage or variation due to external factors such as topography.
Amendment 57 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 36
Recital 36
(36) Roaming customers and home operators sometimes unwittingly incur large bills as a result of the lack of transparency on the numbers used for value added services across the Union and on the wholesale prices charged for value added services. Communications to certain numbers which are used for providing value added services, for example, premium-rate numbers, freephone numbers or shared cost numbers, are subject to particular pricing conditions at the national level. This Regulation should not apply to the part of the tariff that is charged for the provision of value added services but only to the tariffs for the connection to such services. Nevertheless, the RLAH principle might create an expectation for end-users that communications to such numbers while roaming should not incur any increased cost in comparison to the domestic situation. However, this is not always the case when roaming. End-users are confronted with increased costs, even when they call numbers that are free when called domestically. This could erode customers’ confidence in using their phones when roaming and could result in bill shocks, thus having a negative impact on a genuine RLAH experience. This is mainly caused, at retail level by the insufficient level of transparency on the higher charges which can be incurred because of communications to value added services numbers. Therefore measures should be introduced to increase the transparency on the conditions for communications to value added services numbers. To that end, roaming customers and roaming customers living with a disability should be informed in their contract and notified and warned, in a timely manner and free of charge, that communications to value added services numbers in roaming can entail additional charges.
Amendment 60 #
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. 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. Such communications should be guaranteed and easily accessible for roaming customers living with a disability. 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 86 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 3 – point c
Article 9 – paragraph 3 – point c
(c) clear and comprehensible information on the quality of service that can reasonably be expected when roaming in the Union, including in particular information on the speed and potential limitation to the transmission of data.
Amendment 94 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
Article 14 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
Roaming providers shall, except when the roaming customer has notified the roaming provider that he does not require this service, provide the customer, automatically by means of a Message Service, without undue delay and free of charge, when the roaming customer enters a Member State other than that of his domestic provider, with information on the potential risk of increased charges due to the use of value added services including a link to a dedicated webpage providing information about the types of services that may be subject to increased costs and, if available, information on value added services number ranges. Such communications shall be guaranteed and easily accessible in particular for roaming customers living with a disability.