Tag Archives: NeelieKroes

Uber hires more former politicians to fight its cause

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One of the ways that Uber is hoping to win over policy makers is to hire other policy makers to act as its representatives. The firm has formed a public policy advisory board that'll help improve Uber's service and provide outreach to legislators acr...

European Commission proposal would end some roaming fees, enshrine net neutrality

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European Commission VP Neelie Kroes

The rumors were on the mark -- as part of a larger telecom plan, the European Commission's Neelie Kroes has proposed regulation that would largely scrap roaming fees. The measure would ban all charges for incoming calls within the EU after July 1st next year, and give carriers incentives to drop many other roaming fees altogether. Companies would either have to let customers use "roam like at home" plans in EU countries or offer a choice of roaming providers with cheap rates. Outbound, mobile-to-mobile calls within member states would cost no more than €0.19 per minute.

The strategy also includes rules for enforcing net neutrality across the EU. The proposal bans internet providers from blocking and throttling content. Firms could offer priority services like IPTV only as long as these features don't slow down other subscribers, who could walk away from contracts if they don't get their advertised speeds. There's no guarantee that the European Parliament will vote in favor of the new measures, but it's already clear that the Commission is far from happy with the telecom status quo.

[Image credit: The Council of the European Union]

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Via: Dominic Laurie (Twitter)

Source: European Union

Rumored EU law would scrap cellular roaming fees, let travelers choose providers

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Leaked EU law reportedly scrubs roaming fees, lets travelers pick foreign providers

It's no secret that European Commission regulators dislike roaming charges. However, The Guardian now hears from sources that the Commission may propose legislation next week that eliminates those charges altogether. Carriers would reportedly have to charge the same service rates in every European Union country, forming alliances in nations where they don't operate. Networks that don't scrap roaming fees by July 2014 would also have to give customers a choice of foreign providers. Subscribers wouldn't even have to swap SIM cards or phone numbers, according to The Guardian. A spokesman for the Commission's Neelie Kroes declined comment on the rumor, but noted that the agency wants roaming "out of the market" -- clearly, the cellular status quo won't last for long.

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Source: The Guardian

EU reduces roaming charges across Europe today, makes data 36 percent cheaper and teases further cuts

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EU officially caps roaming charges across Europe, makes data 36 percent cheaper and teases further cuts

Starting today, anyone hopping between EU member countries with their smartphone will see roaming charge caps substantially cut across networks and services. As promised by the EU Commission's VP Neelie Kroes last week, new price caps will drop call charges by "at least 17 percent," while receiving calls are reduced by 12 percent per minute starting today. Text message costs are down 11 percent, while (perhaps most importantly) data charges across networks in Europe have been cut by 36 percent, down to 45 Euro cents per MB -- 91 percent cheaper than they were in 2007.

The commission says it has managed achieve price reductions of over 80 percent across mobile services in the last six years, but it isn't done there. Further price caps are promised for the same time next year too, as you can see after the break, with roaming data charges set to be further halved (down to 20 cents) by July 2014, with voice calls and text charges also seeing further, admittedly less substantial, reductions. Now, let's see how the EU fares on those ridding the old country of throttled data speeds.

Image credit: Die Bundeskanzlerin

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Source: Europa (EU), @NeelieKroesEU (Twitter)

EU Commissioner teases net neutrality rules: no throttling, easy switching

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European Commission teases net neutrality rules no throttling, lots of transparency

The European Union has only taken baby steps toward proper net neutrality legislation so far. Today, however, the European Commission's Neelie Kroes just gave the first glimpse of what those continent-wide rules could look like. Her proposals would let companies prioritize traffic, but not block or throttle it. The measures would also prevent gotchas once customers have signed on the dotted line: internet providers would not only have to offer clear terms of service, but make it easier to jump ship for something better. There are concerns that the proposals would let providers favor their own services, but Kroes also makes no arbitrary distinctions (and thus exemptions) between wired and wireless networks, like we've seen in the US -- can we get these rules elsewhere, please?

[Image credit: The Council of the European Union]

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Via: GigaOM

Source: European Union

European commissioner promises single mobile market by 2015

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European commissioner promises single mobile market by 2015

Europe may be enjoying deeper and deeper integration, but that doesn't extend to mobile connectivity; citizens are still whacked with hefty roaming rates. European digital commissioner Neelie Kroes hopes to change this, telling business leaders that she's planning to push through a single mobile telecoms market before she retires in 2015. Speaking at the European Business Summit, she said she had "no intention to retire until [she'd] knocked down all the barriers to a single market," which was her "major priority" for the rest of her term. Hopefully those on that side of the pond will never again have to fork over $8 per day just to check Vine.

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Source: EUObserver