International roaming and regulatory independence discussed during EU4Digital country visits in Armenia and Ukraine

In February 2020, the EU4Digital team carried out country visits to Armenia and Ukraine focused on issues related to International Roaming and Regulatory Independence. The meetings were attended by the main local stakeholders, including representatives from National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), the respective EU delegations, Ministries and operators.

The team visited the Armenian capital Yerevan on 11 February, and the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on 13-14 February.

The main goals of the country visits were to raise awareness, as well as to present the results and future steps to be taken jointly with the Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg) and the EaP countries. 

During the meetings, the EU4Digital team presented the background of the EU4Digital facility, introduced the activities under both international roaming and regulatory independence streams, and presented the current status and further steps for each activity. 

Stream-specific topics discussed included:

Roaming

• overview of EU roaming and EaP roaming market developments;
• updated roaming study findings;
• overview of best practice on roaming issues and EaP countries’ international commitments;
• draft Regional Roaming Agreement (RRA).

Regulatory Independence 

• overview of EU NRAs’ best practices and relevant EU regulatory framework;
• overview of Methodology for NRA independence assessment and areas to be assessed.

The ultimate milestone of International Roaming related activities during 2020 is to finalise the Regional Roaming Agreement and facilitate an implementation procedure for a signed RRA’s entry into force. For Regulatory Independence, the ultimate goal is to strengthen NRA independence with the aim to have NRAs in at least 5 countries.