BEREC reports about RLAH effects on the markets in terms of volumes, revenues and wholesale rates
BEREC, for the first time, is presenting data on the impact of „Roam Like At Home“ (RLAH). It shows the effects on the markets in terms of volumes, revenues and roaming wholesale rates. berec roaming report
EEA roaming consumption patterns berec roaming report
The introduction of RLAH services, coupled with the growing demand for data services, has changed the international roaming market. A relevant point could be made that the RLAH services enabled a substantial increase in international roaming traffic.
The minutes generated under RLAH tariffs account for the majority of the voice traffic. 91.03 % of minutes of calls made and 91.69 % of minutes of calls received were generated by subscribers of RLAH tariffs.
For text messages sent while roaming within EEA countries, RLAH tariffs accounted for 94.53 % of the total volume in Q3 2017.
In Q3 2017 around 90.05 % of data traffic was based on the RLAH data tariff while roaming
Increased volumes can be exemplified in the relationship between Q3 2016 and Q3 2017. The average EEA subscriber spent 14.23 minutes per month in calls made in Q3 2017 in comparison to 8.8 minutes in Q3 2016.
The number of received call minutes abroad amounted to 11.08 minutes per EEA average roaming subscriber per month in Q3 2017, whereas this was around 9.5 minutes in Q3 2016 (Figure 35). Data traffic has increased by 434.55 % when comparing data from Q3 2016 and Q3 2017. Data roaming consumption ranged from 59.02 to 1616.13 MB per roaming subscriber monthly in Q3 2017 in comparison to the range from 8 to 342 MB in Q3 2016. In the historical series, data traffic increased 36.17% % from Q3 2015 to Q3 2016, so the total increase of data during the period in which roaming regulation evolved from Eurotariff to RLAH (from Q3 2015 to Q3 2017) has been 627.88 %.
The report reveals a substantial increase of data volumes in the EEA. Data volumes increased by 435% in the period from Q3 2016 to Q3 2017. The average consumption per month per subscriber in the EEA in Q3 2017 was 242 MB.
Less significant is the increase of volumes in voice and SMS services. The report shows that the number of minutes of calls made per month per roaming customer increased from 8.8 minutes in Q3 2016 to 14.23 minutes in Q3 2017.
“Although international roaming services demonstrate high seasonality, the results clearly indicate that the 2015 amendment of the Roaming Regulation has significantly contributed to the development of the single market”, Johannes Gungl said.
Conclusion
According to the report, the implementation of the EU roaming regulation has been largely successful, with roaming charges continuing to decrease and many mobile operators offering roaming services at no additional cost to their customers. The report also notes that the implementation of the net neutrality regulation has been generally effective, with most internet service providers complying with the rules.
However, the report also identifies several areas for improvement. For example, the report notes that some mobile operators are still charging high fees for roaming services in some cases, and that there is a need for greater transparency in the way that roaming charges are applied. The report also highlights the need for greater awareness among consumers about their rights and options when using mobile services while traveling in other EU countries.
Overall, the BEREC report provides a detailed analysis of the implementation of the EU roaming regulation and the regulation on net neutrality and provides recommendations for further improvements to ensure that consumers continue to benefit from fair and affordable mobile services when traveling in the EU.
