Parliamentary Secretary pushes for a unified, European telecommunications market

Addressing the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG 2015), at Sofia in Bulgaria, telecommunications parliamentary secretary, Jose Herrera said that Malta favours citizens in the discussion of data roaming.

Reacting to the near deadlock in the regulations package, on telecommunications, that includes roaming tariffs and net neutrality, Herrera said that Europe needed a unified telecommunications market. 

“The rules governing the telecommunications market need to be updated through a clear road map that safeguards the requirements and needs of EU citizens,” Herrera said.

Herrera explained that the government agreed that European citizens should pay the same mobile phone tariffs when they are travelling within the EU. He added, however, that the government also understood that this wouldn’t be possible unless a surcharge that makes up for wholesale payment rates for mobile operators was introduced.

He encouraged the European Commission to continue taking an active role in the hope that the process could continue without further delay.

The Commission and the Council are meanwhile insisting that more market-based structures are needed to regulate prices, whereas Parliament is saying that more legislation is needed to dictate prices.