As technology evolves and globalisation continues, the need for reasonably priced roaming services has never been higher. In 2007, the European mission introduced a first set of regulatory decisions to cap the maximal roaming fee end users have to pay for calling. In the years after, additional price caps have been introduced for SMS and data, initially only for end users, in a later stage also for the inter-operator tariff. The final step, named roam like at Home (RLAH), will start to take effect in June 2017,from then on end users will pay same price when roaming like in their domestic country.
The effect of RLAH on the business case of each mobile operator is hard to predict, as the different nations markets are extremely heterogeneous and operators face large discrepancies in terms of roaming usage due to different traveling patterns and various other reason that cannot be harmonised (geography, economics, usage history).
Furthermore, competition in the telecom market will no longer be a purely national matter, as the decision to abolish roaming tariffs will expose operators to other players within Europe.
This thesis aims at providing insights in the effect of RLAH for both the end users as well as the mobile operators. Following data findings and a detailed overview of the roaming regulation process from 2007 up to now, the thesis discusses possible effects the RLAH initiative might trigger, going from lower wholesale prices for mobile operators to higher retail prices for end users. Additionally, as the European commission strives for a single European Market, this thesis presents a number of technical solutions (carrier portability, Roam Like A Local, Wi-Fi offloading) that pose an alternative for roaming and explains how these may impact cross-border competition both positively and negatively.