Telecom operators in EU and Moldova to reduce roaming tariffs from 2024
Date: 02/06/23
Telecoms operators from the European Union and the Republic of Moldova have signed a joint declaration, to lower roaming charges for businesses and citizens travelling between the two areas. The European Commission and Moldovan authorities facilitated the voluntary declaration, published on 31 May 2023, reflecting the shared goal to ensure a long-term roaming arrangement and bring Moldova closer to the EU Single Market. The EU supports this process and Moldova’s integration into the EU roaming regime through the EU4Digital Initiative.
The joint declaration will ensure lower roaming tariffs between the EU, the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Republic of Moldova in the short term. As a result, citizens and businesses in the EU Member States, the EEA and the Republic of Moldova will be able to travel across borders while staying connected at affordable rates. This means they will soon enjoy lower charges on their calls, data and texts. They will be able to stay in touch with friends and family more easily, and businesses will also benefit from reduced costs.
The European Union’s EU4Digital Initiative has been supporting efforts to achieve a secure and sustainable digital and telecommunications infrastructure across the countries in the Eastern Partnership since 2019, noted Andrejs Dombrovskis, EU4Digital Telecom Rules Stream Leader. He was delighted at the news of the joint declaration.
“The announcement of the joint declaration between EU and Moldovan telecoms operators is a celebratory moment for the EU4Digital team, as the agreement builds on years of work and providing expertise to support the Commission and partner countries in preparing for this development.”
Andrejs Dombrovskis, EU4Digital Telecom Rules Stream Leader
The European Commission welcomed the declaration. President Ursula von der Leyen said: “This is a significant step, which will benefit people and companies alike in the EU and of the Republic of Moldova, bringing us closer together as the Republic of Moldova continues its candidacy journey.”
Goals of the declaration
Signatories of the declaration agreed to a number of common goals, which citizens will begin to benefit from as of 1 January 2024. They commit to, among other things:
Providing affordable retail roaming offers for those travelling between the EU/EEA and the Republic of Moldova;
Agreeing an upper retail price-cap, to be announced by 1 October 2023;
Assessing a wholesale roaming cap for the provision of roaming services at or below the agreed retail cap;
Renegotiating wholesale roaming agreements, where required, to take into account the reduction of international termination rates and enable the provision of roaming services at or below the agreed retail cap;
Ensuring that retail offers are available to the widest number of end users.
The declaration will apply until 31 December 2025 and could be renewed after that date. The declaration is voluntary and remains open for EU/EEA and Moldovan operators who wish to sign at any time. Among the first signatories on the EU side are Orange group, DT group and Telefonica group, covering several Member States in the EU. On the Moldovan side, signatures include Orange Moldova, Moldtelecom and Moldcell.
We use cookies on this site to improve your website experience, to enhance site navigation and analyse site usage. By clicking “Accept all cookies” you consent to our use of cookies.
You can find out more about which cookies we are using or adjust your cookie settings in the Cookies policy.
Functionality Cookies
Functionality cookies, which are essential to the functioning of the website. These cookies also which help us measure the website’s performance and improve your experience, as well as remembering any settings you might have selected.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
Advertising/targeting cookies
Advertising/targeting cookies, which we use to track user activity and sessions so that we can deliver a more personalized service, and (in the case of advertising cookies) which are set by the third parties with whom we execute advertising campaigns and allow us to provide advertisements relevant to you. These are optional cookies and users can choose to opt out at any moment.