Berec issues guidelines for EU international call pricing
From 15 May 2019, any retail price (excluding VAT) charged to consumers for regulated intra-EU communications shall not exceed EUR 0.19 per minute for calls and EUR 0.06 per SMS message. berec guidelines
The new rules on retail price caps for intra-EU communications (fixed and mobile calls and SMS) are introduced by the EU Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 as amended). In order to ensure a coherent application of the Regulation, BEREC has published Guidelines, laying down criteria for National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) to take into account. These Guidelines include general provisions (scope of the Regulation, alternative tariffs, charging intervals, etc.), as well as specific rules where BEREC defines procedures and parameters to assess the sustainability of these provisions.
Scope of the Regulation
The regulation covers only consumption-based intra-EU communications services offered to consumers. In regards to the geographical scope of the regulation, the regulation concerns all EU Member States including the outermost regions, which are part of the EU Single Market.
For calls originating in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein the Regulation would be applicable as soon as it is incorporated in the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement.
Charging Intervals
The regulation does not restrict operators to apply per-second billing. However, as the price-caps are expressed per minute, it is considered that charging intervals cannot exceed 60 seconds.
Alternative tariffs
Providers in addition to the regulated tariff may offer alternative tariffs covering non-EEA, i.e. third countries including intra-EU communications where the prices of intra-EU communications may exceed the caps. Consumers should have the option to deliberately choose such tariffs.
Charges in currencies other than Euro
The price caps are in euros. When converting the price caps to currencies other than Euro, operators should use the method set out in the Regulation.berec guidelines
