Summer is just around the corner, the holiday season is starting, and most Europeans will spend their summer holidays within the European Union. Whenever we explore Europe’s cultural and regional diversity, we don’t want to do without our smartphone. Connectivity is essential to navigate the right route, to find the most beautiful places and to stay in touch with family and friends. While we are enjoying our summer we do not have to worry about extra charges for mobile connectivity (Voice, SMS and Data), because we benefit from a policy called Roam-Like-At-Home (RLAH).
Roaming Regulation established a new way of European connectivity
Since 2017, the EU Roaming Regulation has allowed people in the EU and the whole European Economic Area (EEA) to use their mobile phones across borders just like they would at home — no surprise bills, no extra fees. After the regulation was revised in 2022 it continues to follow the main objective to make sure, that consumers will not be overcharged when they travel.
At the same time the framework established a regulated wholesale market and a glidepath for wholesale price caps for roaming access that should ensure that mobile operators can still cover their costs and invest in networks. Another aim of this frame is to provide emergency services to all European citizens that are accessible across borders.
EU Report recognizes a well-functioning roaming market
Based on a legal mandate the European Commission had to publish a report reviewing the state of the EU roaming market until end of June 2025. This report is also part of a regular check-up to make sure the system is fair, affordable, and sustainable — both for consumers and mobile operators. These are the main conclusions of the European Commission:
- Roaming is free for European customers traveling within the EU — and that’s not changing anytime soon.
- Emergency access is improving as operators inform users about how to reach emergency services whenever they enter a new European country.
- Bill shock is rare because of built-in limits (like automatic cut-offs at €50 or €100) that help prevent unexpected charges when customers use non-terrestrial roaming services in airplanes or on ships.
- Behind the scenes, prices at the wholesale market are dropping. The wholesale rates that mobile companies charge each other for providing roaming connectivity to foreign customers are going down — especially for data. This is an obvious indicator of the vitality of the European roaming market.
Roaming – A European Success Story
The report which has now been published by the EU Commission clearly shows that roaming regulation has triggered a positive market development. No one in Europe can have any doubt that the RLAH principle, which is popular among consumers and is now taken for granted, will be abolished in future.
At the same time, the report also shows that there is a dynamic and functioning wholesale market in which the costs that network operators charge each other are often even below the regulated price caps. When the opportunities for a regulatory simplification will be discussed in the coming months as part of the process to develop a new EU Digital Network Act, policy makers and regulators in Europe should think about roaming.
The greatest possible success of regulation is when it can enable the emergence of a fully functioning market. When this regulatory goal has been achieved, then the time has come for deregulation, because a fully functioning and healthy market does not require any intervention.
Therefore, the EU should shift its roaming policy from a cost-based price regulation to measures that encourage greater investment and competition in secure, sovereign infrastructure. Restrictions on wholesale roaming prices and termination rates should be removed, and at least no further price reductions should occur.
