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Europe to end mobile roaming charges

European lawmakers agreed a final proposal to scrap roaming charges and introduce rules on "net neutrality" in a late-night meeting that brought months of negotiations to an end.

Roaming fees - the extra charges for using a mobile phone abroad - will come to an end in June 2017, although they will be subject to a fair use policy. As a stop-gap from 2016, roaming fees will be capped at five cents per megabyte for mobile data, five cents per minute for calls and two cents per SMS message, writes Duncan Robinson.

Lawmakers also agreed rules on "net neutrality" - the principle by which all internet traffic is treated equally. Unlike stricter rules in the US, the EU will allow specialised services for things such as streaming live TV as long as it does not hinder other users customers, in a move likely to be welcomed by telecoms groups.

The "trilogue" meeting between member states, the European Parliament and the Commission - which wrapped up at 2am - was the culmination of three years of often-bad tempered wrangling between the parties. Although the final text will be sent to the European Parliament and member states being it comes into law, this is expected to be a smooth process.

Günther Oettinger, the German commissioner who oversees part of digital policy, said: "I welcome today's crucial agreement to finally end roaming charges and establish pragmatic net neutrality rules throughout the EU." He added: "Both are essential for consumers and businesses.

More ambitious plan to harmonise the way spectrum is sold on a European basis were included in the original plans. These were scrapped after they proved too contentious for member states, who saw the bandwidths - which are used by telecoms companies to provide mobile internet as well as other communications technology - as a national asset potentially worth billions of euros.



Source: http://www.ft.com/intl/fastft/352281/europe-end-mobile-roaming-charges

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