> The fair use safeguard also prevents, when necessary, abusive use of roaming services, such as 'permanent roaming', which otherwise could undermine domestic markets.
Personally, I don't think this should exist. Imagine it saying in the US that the "fair use safeguard prevents people from using a cheaper cellphone service from another state".
That would be absurd right? I see it the same way in the EU. It's like they are trying to prevent competition within EU and maintain local monopolies. God forbid a carrier from one country could actually pose a threat to one in another country!
And I believe both the EU Commission and the majority of the EU Parliament is supposed to be "right-wing" this time around. They keep mentioning "Open Internet" as well, but there are a ton of exceptions in this new directive.
Günther Oettinger from the EU Commission has been the worst in this whole thing. He has been pushing for local ISP monopolies, extended customer lock-in and so on from the moment he became the Commissioner for Digital Economy. I think he's also supposed to be a free market, right-wing guy, but he's probably just corrupt.
It's like they are trying to prevent competition within EU and maintain local monopolies.
That's exactly the purpose of EU; regulate commerce by creating a system of quotas, preventing free competition but reducing the need for tariffs. Milk, cheese, produce, fishing, etc. This is perfectly in line with that idea.
And I believe both the EU Commission and the majority of the EU Parliament is supposed to be "right-wing" this time around.
Right-wing in a good part of Europe means they don't actively oppose regulated markets, not that they're free-market supporters. That's center-right, of course; actual right-wing usually means "fascist" (and opposes the EU itself).
Actual free-market supporters can't even get the required signatures to form a party in most European countries, let alone get elected.
This is the part that I don't understand. The original aim of the EU was to create a single domestic market. A year ago when the canceling of roaming charges was first proposed, no such safeguard was mentioned. So indirectly this would have really created a single domestic market with far-reaching consequences. Apparently the big telcoms managed to get their boy, Oettinger, to safeguard their small country markets from competition. Pisses me off.
The original proposal by Neelie Kroes from the previous Commission looked great. The new Commission ruined a good part of it.
That said, it still establishes some ground rules, which are good for the most part. I just wish there weren't so many exceptions to them, and I fear at least some of them will be abused. We'll have to see how it goes.
However, if Netflix, Spotify or Youtube manage to get that "specialized service" privilege, then we'll know the rules don't work and will have to be changed. Because right now that is NOT what the EU proposal is saying the new rules will allow to happen.
The clearly worst part from all of this seems to be the zero-rating, which I don't think should exist at all as it's too easy to abuse and too hard to contain with regulations if it exists at all. Plus, whatever regulations are put around it will probably help the big guys anyway.
Don't American mobile providers strongly suggest another network (drop you) when you live or mostly use your phone in an area for which they only have roaming coverage (through an agreement with a different company)?
Yes, I have known several people who have had this happen. One friend had a couple of kids away at college on his family plan- the company sent him a letter that they were canceling the 2 lines his kids used out of state (roaming), so he switched providers- they then wanted to charge him for breaking his contract! He sent a copy of the letter canceling the two lines and explained that they were the one canceling the contract.
Three [1] exists in both the UK and Ireland, and has an "all you can eat" bundle [2] in Ireland, for €20/month, but their closest deal in the UK is £17.00/month on a 12 month contract. They also provide a "Like Home" service, where your bundles apply outside your home country, so I can use my UK mobile data/text/call allowance in Ireland and Vice versa. Despite not having roaming rates, It's still cheaper for me to use my UK sim here and have a separate one for home, as calling the UK from Ireland or vice versa on a phone incurs costs that aren't part of the standard bundles.
They don't advertise it very well, but for £15 you can buy the "All in one 15" addon which includes:
- 'All-you-can-eat' data (with limits enforced over 100GB [0])
- 300 minutes
- 3000 texts
It includes 4G where available in the UK.
In my experience the 'Feel at home' deal works great when roaming on a Three network abroad (i.e. Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Hong Kong), but on their partner networks it is horribly slow (i.e. USA).
The Ireland one gives you the "AYCE" data, with free texts and calls (to 3 weekdays, to all moviles weekends), and lets you use the 20 euro credit on top of that.
The free roaming service from Three is called "Feel at home".
The good news is that it can be even cheaper than what you mention, as it is available on pay-as-you-go tariffs as well.
The bad news is that there are some limitations on tethering abroad, and you do need to use your SIM in your home country at least once every 3 months. So it's not quite yet a situation where you can pick any cheap European provider and use them anywhere else in Europe without restrictions.
All you can eat isnt all you can eat. It is throttled after 15Gb.
There is no mobile options in Ireland with decent caps. Living here and in a place that has ADSL1 and 4G available I tried finding a plan that would me actually consume media using 3/4G - there is no plan that doesnt throttle after at best 20Gb that I could find.
"Should your data usage exceed 15GB in a 30 day period and your usage affect other network users, we reserve the right to limit your Service."
Good luck when you decide to cancel it though, Three is a pain in the ass to leave with their hour-long questionnaire and legalese. I really liked their service but it was so annoying to leave I don't think I'll ever use them again. I'm a giffgaff-ian, by the way.
Ive been with giffgaff for a few years now and recruited family and friends to it as well. £10 pm with practically free calls it has been great. But with giffgaff's odd venture into payday loans as well it does not seem like a community driven company any more, hence why I might move to Three's PAYG (as I hate commiting to subscriptions)
https://www.giffgaff.com/money/loans
Interesting, I didn't know giffgaff was actually directly related to O2 besided using their network. Out of curiosity, I tried to find some information on Three and got a little surprise: "In January 2015, Li Ka-shing entered into talks with Telefónica to buy its British mobile division O2 for around $15.4 billion. In March 2015, Li Ka-shing confirmed it will be purchasing Telefónica's UK mobile division for £10.25bn subject to regulatory approval by competition regulator, Ofcom." So it seems Three is going to own both O2 and giffgaff by buying Telefónica?
The PAYG sim deal is cheaper (15GBP per month for the 'All in One 15' add-on) and works abroad immediately. When looking at their blog it seemed you had to wait for a month to pass for the Feel at Home to actually work.
I found the speeds were horrendous in NY also. But still better than roaming with my actual network provider.
"Feel at home" also works on pay as you go, and you can get a one-off, no commitment allowance that will provide it for as little as £10 (500MB + 300 minutes + 3000 texts, I think).
I've never felt the need to go for a contract in the UK, as PAYG is so cheap on Three.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-5275_en.htm
Personally, I don't think this should exist. Imagine it saying in the US that the "fair use safeguard prevents people from using a cheaper cellphone service from another state".
That would be absurd right? I see it the same way in the EU. It's like they are trying to prevent competition within EU and maintain local monopolies. God forbid a carrier from one country could actually pose a threat to one in another country!
And I believe both the EU Commission and the majority of the EU Parliament is supposed to be "right-wing" this time around. They keep mentioning "Open Internet" as well, but there are a ton of exceptions in this new directive.
Günther Oettinger from the EU Commission has been the worst in this whole thing. He has been pushing for local ISP monopolies, extended customer lock-in and so on from the moment he became the Commissioner for Digital Economy. I think he's also supposed to be a free market, right-wing guy, but he's probably just corrupt.
https://gigaom.com/2014/11/07/let-isps-lock-their-customers-...