09.01.2020

Starting 1 January 2020, as the wholesale regulated price has lowered, the roaming data (MB/GB) allowance in the EU/EEA^[1]  without additional fees grows for most tariff plans. 

From the same date, if the fair use limits for certain roaming services in the EU/EEA are reached, the surcharges that may be applied for the subsequent consumption decrease as follows:

- the data surcharge goes down by approx. 22%, from 4.5 to 3.5 Euros/GB, without VAT;

- the incoming call surcharge diminishes by approx. 7%, from 0.85 to 0.79 eurocents/minute, without VAT.

For 2020, the maximum level of the surcharge that the provider RCS&RDS S.A. is authorised to charge from its clients for roaming incoming calls in EEA, under the terms laid down in the ANCOM Decision no. 679/2019, decrease from 0.85 to 0.79 eurocents/minute, without VAT.

When roaming data surcharges apply

From 15 June 2017, the data (mobile internet - MB/GB) used in roaming in the EU/EEA are charged, in principle, the same as in Romania. However, in the case of most tariff plans, the providers can set a data volume limit for roaming in the EU/EEA to be used without additional costs during a billing period (fair use policy). Starting 1 January 2020, the fair use limit has grown by approximately 22% as compared to that applied between 1 January – 31 December 2019.

Once the fair use limit is reached, the providers may apply a surcharge even if the included traffic has not been entirely used. From 1 January 2020 the surcharge will not exceed 3.5 euros/GB (0.35 eurocents/MB), without VAT.

Fair use data volume allowance in roaming in the EU/EEA from 1 January 2020

a)  for the tariff plans (prepaid cards, subscriptions, (extra)options) which include unlimited data traffic and those whose calculated price per GB is below 3.5 Euros, without VAT, the users can use the following amount of data without additional costs, expressed in GB, when roaming in EEA:

                       retail price for mobile services during a billing period, without VAT

       2 x         _____________________________________________________________

                                                                        3.5 euros                 

b)  for the prepaid cards without included data resources (with the payment by consumption unit, per MB/GB), the users can initially use the following amount of data, without additional costs, expressed in GB, when roaming in EEA (as the users pay the available credit, the reasonable data volume allowance diminishes):

                                remaining available credit on the prepaid card when entering roaming in EU/EEA

                                      _________________________________________________________________________

                                                                        3.5 Euros            

Calculator of the “Roam like at home” data limit: ANCOM app

In view of enabling the users to estimate easier the data volume they may use without surcharge when roaming in the EU/EEA, ANCOM developed a widget-type app, available here. The application was updated with the 3.5 Euros/GB tariff, valid from 1 January 2020. The app displays relevant results for all the users of tariff plans with roaming access, except for those of RCS&RDS S.A., an operator authorised to apply roaming surcharges from the first consumption unit.

More information on “Roam like at home” is published on the ANCOM InfoceCentre, in the dedicated section, here.

[1] EEA = EU + Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein