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European Parliament Votes For Net Neutrality, Forbids Mobile Roaming Costs

Posted by timothy on from the everything-not-expressly-permitted dept.

First time accepted submitter TBerben (1061176) writes "The European Parliament has voted to accept the telecommunications reform bill. This bill simultaneously forbids mobile providers from charging roaming costs as of December 15, 2015 and guarantees net neutrality. Previous versions of the bill contained a much weaker definition of net neutrality, offering exemptions for 'specialized services,' but this was superseded in an amendment (original link, in Dutch) submitted by Dutch MEP Marietje Schaake (liberal fraction). Note that the legislation is not yet definitive: the Council of Ministers still has the deciding vote, but they are expected to follow the EP's vote."

6 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Good, I guess by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm big on NN, but I do admit there are good points made for market driven forces to allow buildup of delivery services. That breaks down with the lack of competition at the ISP level. I assume its similar in Europe as the US.

    Riddle me this. If Netflix pays and ISP for delivering its content with quality...should not all subscribers to that ISP, regardless of what plan they signed up for, get Netflix at the highest possible bandwidth?

    This issue can't be piecemeal-ed.

    1. Re:Good, I guess by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 3, Interesting

      ISPs advertise, amd charge more for, higher speeds to your house.

      It's fraud to deliberately degrade Netflix to attempt to extort from them a portion of what I pay Netflix.

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  2. Cynicism by Thanshin · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Option A : Mobile providers make less money next year.

    Option B : Mobile providers raise the standard charges the exact necessary amount to avoid having losses due to this law.

    Option C : Mobile providers raise the standard charges more than necessary and justify the raise saying ordinary people need to pay for the yuppies who roam Europe in their sports cars while chatting on their phones.

    1. Re:Cynicism by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My mobile provider (3, in the UK) has started rolling out a thing that lets you use your inclusive minutes and data allowance in other countries without any extra charge (the costs if you go over those limits are pretty dire). It was actually cheaper for me to use data on my mobile when I visit the US than it was for the people I was visiting, on my last trip. I think they've seen the writing on the wall and started making these agreements long before they were needed. They're able to do this and charge 3p/minute for calls, 2p/text and 1p/MB for data (pre-pay - if you get a bundle and buy in bulk then things are cheaper, but the bundles are time limited).

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      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:Cynicism by rkww · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They never thought of ending roaming charges as a way to _make_ money

      Except for Three UK who have already ended call roaming charges in eleven foreign countries - including the USA.

      And for certain packages they've removed data roaming charges too (subject to limits.)

      Incidentally 97 percent of their network traffic is data.

  3. Re:Touristy places will be in for a surprise.. by TBerben · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Tourists either switch off their phones, or put them in flight mode, because of the exorbitant roaming charges they would otherwise make. I doubt they make up a significant portion of the operators' income. Your argument is easily reversed: the operators might experience an increase in revenue, once tourists actually start using their phones abroad.