Basically, roaming is a great thing. It was created at the end of the seventies in the USA at a time when mobile operators operated at the level of cities. Where there were technical possibilities, i.e. where the same system was used, the user could visit another network for an appropriate fee. And then, through regulation, it was transferred to the state level.
Since in the beginning only rich people had mobile phones, there was no question about the price, only that it worked. Problems began to appear only ten years ago, when the use of mobile phones became widespread and common and when operators, driven by fierce competition, drastically lowered prices on the domestic market. No one took care of how many talks and how many messages they sent anymore, even mobile internet became a daily habit.
However, roaming traffic prices generally did not change, or at least not so quickly and dramatically. State regulators are not very interested in what happens outside the (state) borders of their influence, that is left to the market and the operators themselves. Over time, the difference between using the service in roaming and in domestic traffic has become not only obvious, but also shocking. Collects ten to a thousand times!
Otherwise, roaming tariffs have many illogicalities, if one analyzes them a little. It would be said that it is normal that the price increases with the distance, that it is more expensive to use the phone in Chile than in France, if you are from Serbia. But then why is the price the same in Moscow and Vladivostok, that is New York and Anchorage, Alaska, provided you use the same operator? Those who are technically savvy in mobile telephony will tell you that roaming charges don't have to exist at all, just like there aren't any on Skype or Viber, provided the mobile operators come to an agreement. Because the development and maintenance of a mobile phone network costs a lot and if there was no roaming, in the current order of things, subscribers would buy cards where they are cheapest (I'm guessing the Virgin Islands) and use them everywhere.
If there was no European Union, we would accept roaming as it is and pay as much as we are told. But there, angry users, mostly in September when they receive the so-called "shock bills" after the vacation, started asking all those logical questions. Why do two citizens of the European Union, a guest from Belgium and a host from Spain, for example, who sit at the same table and call through the same operator pay many different prices for the same service? While (Belgian) beer costs them the same.
As the appeals to the operators to understand, agree and lower the prices did not resonate, and the regulatory bodies had no influence, the European Commission adopted umbrella rules and began to forcibly lower the prices sometime in 2007. In August 2007, the price of a minute of roaming calls within the EU was limited to half a euro, which will gradually be reduced to 19 eurocents by the first of July this year. In December 2016, charging for roaming within the EU will be abolished for all services and the regulation will be valid until July 2022. It has also been accepted by EFTA members Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, but not Switzerland, where roaming will remain expensive.
Here, finally, we come to an interesting moment for us in the Balkans. At the meeting of regulators in Skopje (August 21), the countries of Southeast Europe, namely Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania and Turkey, agreed to act similarly to the EU, that is, to limit roaming prices in the region. Thirty days were left for consultation and it was agreed that they would meet again at the Infofest in Budva (from September 28 to October 4) where they would announce their intentions.
The first idea was to include roaming control in the Stabilization and Association Agreement (all countries are on the "European path"), but this has not been understood by the EU so far. They would not further complicate the already overcomplicated procedures and deadlines for "negotiation".
As things stand, the regional negotiations will not go easily either.
All three operators in Serbia (Telekom Srbija, Telenor and VIP) tell "Vreme" that no one officially informed them about the initiative, that is, they learned about it from the media. Telekom says that "the complete abolition of roaming could also mean the formation of a single telecommunications market for the mentioned countries, which is a very complex issue." Telenor and VIP agree that all further steps in this matter must be transparent, that it must be preserved business environment and business predictability.
The operators point out that they do not sit idly by and that for years they have been offering their users special benefits for roaming in the region, especially where they have partners from their group (Telecom in BiH and Montenegro, Telenor in Montenegro, VIP wherever Vodafone and Telekom are Austria). They add that the process and adjustment of the market in the EU lasted for years and that it is not realistic to expect it to be done in the region in a few months.
RATEL Director Milan Jankoviฤ agrees that the agreement will not be easy, because unlike the EU, common laws do not apply in the region. "If it was legally possible, RATEL would have arranged it already," Jankoviฤ told Vreme, adding that he thinks the initiative is good because it clearly shows citizens that European integration is profitable for their pockets.
If there is no law, agreements remain, and they are interstate. It is possible for the states to come to an agreement with each or all of them at once, and in that case a legal obligation for the operators would also arise. However, in all countries of the region, they are among the most profitable companies that fill the budget, finance culture and sports, spend significant money on advertising in the media, and it is not wise to put too much pressure on them. On the other hand, it will be increasingly difficult for politicians (ministers) to answer voters' questions about why it is possible to abolish roaming in Bulgaria and Croatia, but not in our country if we already have to accept European regulations on tuna fishing.
photo: sxc.huROAMING CONNECTS PEOPLE: A complex procedure
Slobodan Markoviฤ, a former adviser in the (former) Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Society, believes that roaming will be abolished only when a country in the region joins the Union. Just like in the case of Croatia, which did not respect that European regulation until the day of accession, even though operators from the EU operate there.
"My personal impression is that the chances of such a thing are minimal, not to say none, but I support and support the idea with all my heart," Markoviฤ assessed this initiative for "Vreme".
One of the possible solutions is to rewrite the European recipe, to limit the maximum price of services in the region and the maximum commission for operators, and to create a scale in order to adjust in the next few years. It is up to them to operate within that price, the fact that a cap has been placed does not mean that they cannot offer more favorably. On the other hand, the example of Croatia is extremely unfavorable for them because it shows that the adjustment process is not necessary. It can also be overnight, if necessary.
Otherwise, the regional agreement will have absolutely no impact on roaming with the EU. Each country will have to resolve this with the Union individually, so it may happen that the price of roaming in Montenegro will be reduced for users from Serbia, while in Greece it will be the same as before.
What will happen in the three weeks until Infofest is quite a mystery. But it is to be assumed that the ministries in all six countries will examine the political will, the operators will lobby not to rush, the regulators will quietly propose solutions and balance between the interests of business and politics, and the media will bombastically announce the reduction in prices, perhaps even the abolition of roaming, if not already in October, then at the latest until the next summer season.
If you have now warmed up to go to this historic Infofest in Budva and if you are going to use mobile internet there, we strongly recommend that you ask friends who were given a house on that coast by socialism to lend you a "Montenegro number". They will know immediately what you are asking them.
The possibility that roaming in the region will be abolished was first announced to Tanjuga by the Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, Rasim Ljajiฤ. Announcing the August meeting of the regulators in Skopje, Ljajiฤ hinted that the abolition of roaming would take place in two phases, first between Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and Turkey, and later Bosnia and Kosovo would join. First, the states, i.e. the regulators, would come to an agreement, and then we would talk to the operators.
"The interest of the citizens of the region exists, but the question is whether it is also the interest of the operator," Ljajiฤ said then, adding that he does not expect this to be resolved simply and quickly and that it is not realistic that roaming in the region will be abolished by the beginning of 2015.
The biggest problem was created by smartphones that got us used (hooked) to services dependent on the Internet. Most roaming users turn off data transmission, except via the wireless network in a cafe or hotel, and more often on the beach. Mistakes are expensive and painful. As soon as you (accidentally) enable data roaming, your device starts to be "updated" at astronomical prices.
According to the latest, the price of transferring one megabyte of information within the European Union is limited to 20 euro cents. Translated into gigabytes, it is a little more than 200 euros per gigabyte (1024 megabytes plus VAT). An average two-hour movie takes up one gigabyte if that makes it easier for you to orientate yourself, so you calculate whether it's worth it at such a discount. For the sake of comparison, if you buy a local internet card in Montenegro, a gigabyte will cost you around two euros, which means a hundred times less than under the new, most favorable regulations in the EU. From 2017, that cost will also be abolished.
By the way, data roaming prices were ten times higher, the aforementioned gigabyte in roaming in the USA or Egypt costs you around two thousand euros even today. And a curious teenager posts it on Facebook in no time. It's a bit more convenient if you check the route with your mobile phone, because you're lost, but even such a search can cost from ten euros and up, "per piece".
Fortunately, the enormous prices leave a lot of room for negotiations with the operator so that the bill for accidental overdrafts can be reduced ten times, instead of several thousand, you will pay "only" a few hundred euros.
An important note is that according to the contract you signed, the operator counts and charges what he sent you, not what you received and what your device shows. There's a lot of wastage with mobile internet so it's possible for your carrier to send you two or three gigabytes to receive that one. The bigger the file, the bigger the waste.
