Council of the
European Union
Brussels, 9 September 2016
(OR. en)
B
PU
11974/16
Interinstitutional File:
2016/0185 (COD)
LIMITE
C
LI
TELECOM 153
COMPET 466
MI 556
CONSOM 199
CODEC 1209
NOTE
From:
To:
Presidency
Delegations
No. prev. doc.:
11429/16 TELECOM 139 COMPET 428 MI 515 CONSOM 176 CODEC
1088
10329/16 TELECOM 121 COMPET 381 MI 458 CONSOM 154 CODEC
898 + ADD1 + ADD2
No. Cion doc.:
Subject:
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
amending Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 as regards rules for wholesale
roaming markets
Introduction
1.
Following the discussions held during the WP TELE of 6 September 2016, and in view of the
WP of 14 September, delegations will find in annex an amended full text of the proposed
regulation. The amendments are in bold and strikethrough. Text underlined is taken from the
existing Regulation 531/2012.
2.
The changes made are described herein:
3.
In Article 1(1), it is clarified that the second subparagraph of paragraph 4 of Article 3 of the
regulation is still valid, and the notion of "defined period of time" is changed to a more
precise notion of "period of validity of their agreement"
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4.
A new paragraph (1a) is added to Article 1, to amend Article 3(6) of the existing regulation.
The purpose of this amendment is to propose a concrete solution to the potential problems of
permanent roaming and abuse as discussed in the WP on 6 September 2016.
5.
Most importantly, in order to find a compromise solution on the cap for data, the Presidency
proposes the following:
•
A glide-path for the data cap, set in €/GB instead of €/MB, now starting higher
(12,70€/GB 1) but decreasing linearly over 3 years instead of 5, to 4,30€/GB. With this
proposal the average cap over three years would remain at the level proposed by the
Commission (8,50€/GB). The cap would be reviewed, if necessary, after the 3 years.
•
A voice cap of 3,53€c/min instead of 4€c/min. This is the EU-average wholesale price
as calculated from the figures provided on fig. 9 p37 of the Impact Assessment.
An objective and duly substantiated justification of the level of the price caps will have to be
provided in the Recitals.
The advantage of this compromise proposal is that operators with a significant outbound
traffic would be able to get already in 2019 a much lower data cap than the Commission's
proposal, as well as a lower cap on voice, while operators with a significant inbound traffic
would get a higher cap for the critical first year, allowing them to invest in the additional
infrastructure that might be required by the increase in traffic and until the anticipated
decrease in cost per GB.
6.
Following suggestions made by delegations, Article 1(5) is amended to make it optional to
consult BEREC.
7.
Finally, Article 1(6) is amended to invite the Commission to submit a legislative proposal if
the report requires it.
8.
Delegations will be invited to comment on these changes.
1
This figure is the median wholesale price coming from the Impact assessment (figure 10 p39)
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Annex
Article 1
Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 531/2012
Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 is amended as follows:
(1)
In Article 3, first subparagraph of paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:
‘4. Rules on regulated wholesale roaming charges laid down in Articles 7, 9 and 12 shall
apply to the provision of access to all components of wholesale roaming access referred to in
paragraph 3, unless both parties to the wholesale roaming agreement explicitly agree that any
average wholesale roaming charge resulting from the application of the agreement should not
be subject to the maximum regulated wholesale roaming charge for a defined the period of
time validity of their agreement.’
(1a) In Article 3,paragraph 6 is replaced by the following:
‘6. The reference offer referred to in paragraph 5 shall be sufficiently detailed and shall
include all components necessary for wholesale roaming access as referred to in paragraph 3,
providing a description of the offerings relevant for direct wholesale roaming access and
wholesale roaming resale access, and the associated terms and conditions. That reference
offer may include conditions to prevent permanent roaming or anomalous or abusive use of
wholesale roaming access for purposes other than the provision of regulated roaming services
to roaming providers’ customers while the latter are periodically travelling within the Union.
The reference offer may in particular provide for termination, upon prior authorisation
by the national regulatory authority and after due notice, of wholesale roaming access
contracts where such permanent roaming or anomalous or abusive use persist. 2 If
necessary, national regulatory authorities shall impose changes to reference offers to give
effect to obligations laid down in this Article.’
2
The dispute resolution mechanism laid down in Articles 20 and 21 of the Framework Directive
would apply to any such dispute, as made clear in Article 17 of Regulation 531/2012.
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(2)
In Article 7, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following:
‘1.
The average wholesale charge that the visited network operator may levy on the
roaming provider for the provision of a regulated roaming call originating on that visited
network, inclusive, among others, of origination, transit and termination costs, shall not
exceed a safeguard limit of EUR 0.04 0.0353 per minute as of 15 June 2017. This maximum
charge and shall, without prejudice to Article 19, remain at EUR 0.04 0.0353 until
30 June 2022.
2.
The average wholesale charge referred to in paragraph 1 shall apply between any pair of
operators and shall be calculated over a 12-month period or any such shorter period as may
remain before the end of the period of application of a maximum average wholesale charge as
provided for in paragraph 1 or before 30 June 2022. ’
(3)
In Article 9 paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
‘1. With effect from 15 June 2017, the average wholesale charge that the visited network
operator may levy on the roaming provider for the provision of a regulated roaming SMS
message originating on that visited network shall not exceed a safeguard limit of EUR 0.01
per SMS message and shall, without prejudice to Article 19, remain at EUR 0.01 until 30 June
2022.’
(4)
In Article 12 paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
‘1. With effect from 15 June 2017, the average wholesale charge that the visited network
operator may levy on the roaming provider for the provision of regulated data roaming
services by means of that visited network shall not exceed a safeguard limit of EUR 0.0085
[12,70] per megagigabyte of data transmitted. That maximum charge shall decrease to
EUR [8,50] on 15 June 2018 and to [4,30] on 15 June 2019 and shall, without prejudice to
Article 19, remain at EUR 0.0085 [4,30] per megagigabyte of data transmitted until 30 June
2022.’
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(5)
In Article 17 ( 1) the following subparagraph is added:
‘Disputes between visited network operators and other operators on rates applied to inputs
necessary for the provision of regulated wholesale roaming services may be referred to the
competent national regulatory authority or authorities pursuant to Article 20 or 21 of the
Framework Directive. In such a case, the competent national regulatory authority or
authorities shall may consult BEREC, about the action to be taken in accordance with the
provisions of the Framework Directive, the Specific Directives or this Regulation to resolve
the dispute, and shall await BEREC's opinion before taking action to resolve the dispute. ’
(6)
Article 19 is amended as follows:
(a)
in paragraph 3:
-
the first sentence is replaced by the following:
‘In addition, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and
the Council every two years after 15 June 2017.’
-
a second subparagraph is inserted:
‘If a report shows that the structural measures provided for by this
Regulation have not adequately promoted competition in the internal market
for roaming services, the Commission shall make appropriate legislative
proposals to the European Parliament and the Council. ’
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(b)
in paragraph 4 first subparagraph, the first sentence is replaced by the following:
‘In order to assess competitive developments in the Union-wide roaming markets,
BEREC shall regularly collect data from national regulatory authorities on
developments in retail and wholesale charges for regulated voice, SMS and data
roaming services, including wholesale charges applied for balanced and unbalanced
roaming traffic respectively. It shall also collect data on the wholesale agreements not
subject to the maximum wholesale roaming charges provided in Articles 7, 9 or 12 and
on the implementation of contractual measures at wholesale level aimed at preventing
permanent roaming or anomalous or abusive use of wholesale roaming access for
purposes other than the provision of regulated roaming services to roaming providers’
customers while the latter are periodically travelling within the Union.’
Article 2
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the
Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels,
For the European Parliament
The President
For the Council
The President
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