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The Trade (Mobile Roaming) Regulations 2023

Draft. This instrument was laid in draft and may differ from the one made. Look for the made version under its title.

Draft 2023, ISBN 9780348242515

Original text. legislation.gov.uk does not revise statutory instruments, so later amendments are not shown here. Changes made to it are listed under each provision when known.

Draft Regulations laid before Parliament, for approval by resolution of each House of Parliament, under paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 2 to the Trade Act 2021.

Electronic Communications

Trade

Made ***

Coming into force ***

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 2(1) and (9) and 4(1) of the Trade Act 2021f1.

A draft of these Regulations has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament in accordance with paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 2 to the Trade Act 2021.

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

2021 c. 10. The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is, as a Minister of the Crown, an “appropriate authority” within the meaning given in section 5(1).

Contents

  1. Part 1: Preliminary provisions
  2. 1Citation and commencement
  3. 2Extent
  4. 3Definitions
  5. Part 2: Maximum rates chargeable to overseas providers
  6. 4Limitation of Part 2
  7. 5Iceland
  8. 6Norway
  9. Part 3: Enforcement and information
  10. Enforcement
  11. 7Power of Ofcom to enforce maximum rates
  12. Information
  13. 8Power of Ofcom to require information for enforcement purposes
  14. Part 4: Dispute resolution and appeals
  15. Dispute resolution
  16. 9Power of Ofcom to resolve disputes
  17. Appeals
  18. 10Right of appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal
  19. Part 5: Miscellaneous provisions
  20. 11Service of notification and other documents
  21. 12Consolidated Fund
  22. 13Periodic review of regulatory provision
  23. 14Revocations
  24. Signature
  25. Schedule Maximum rates
  26. Explanatory note

1Citation and commencement

These Regulations—

(a)

may be cited as the Trade (Mobile Roaming) Regulations 2023, and

(b)

come into force on 6th April 2023.

2Extent

These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

3Definitions

In these Regulations—

  • “the 2003 Act” means the Communications Act 2003f1;

  • “access-related condition” means a condition set as an access-related condition under section 45 of the 2003 Act;

  • “British provider” means a provider of a mobile phone service in the United Kingdom;

  • “customer” means, in relation to an overseas provider, a person who normally uses a mobile phone service of the provider in the country or territory of the provider;

  • “maximum rate” means the maximum rate specified in the Schedule;

  • “mobile phone service” has the meaning given in section 124S(10) of the 2003 Actf2;

  • “Ofcom” means the body corporate established under section 1(1) of the Office of Communications Act 2002f3;

  • “overseas provider” means a provider of a mobile phone service in a country or territory other than the United Kingdom;

  • “roaming agreement” means an agreement between a British provider and an overseas provider that enables a customer of the overseas provider to use a mobile phone service of the British provider while that customer is in the United Kingdom.

4Limitation of Part 2

Nothing in this Part—

(a)

provides a right to the customers of an overseas provider to use a mobile phone service in the United Kingdom, or

(b)

restricts a British provider from imposing conditions on the use of its mobile phone service to prevent abusive or anomalous usage by the customers of an overseas provider.

5Iceland

(1)

This regulation applies to a British provider who has a roaming agreement with an overseas provider in Iceland.

(2)

The British provider must not charge the overseas provider more than the maximum rate for the use of a mobile phone service in the United Kingdom by its customers.

6Norway

(1)

This regulation applies to a British provider who has a roaming agreement with an overseas provider in Norway.

(2)

The British provider must not charge the overseas provider more than the maximum rate for the use of a mobile phone service in the United Kingdom by its customers.

7Power of Ofcom to enforce maximum rates

(1)

Ofcom may enforce a requirement under Part 2.

(2)

Sections 96A to 97 and 104 of the 2003 Actf1 apply for the enforcement of a requirement under Part 2 as they apply for the enforcement of an access-related condition.

8Power of Ofcom to require information for enforcement purposes

(1)

Ofcom may require information for the purpose of ascertaining whether a contravention of a requirement under Part 2 has occurred or is occurring.

(2)

Section 135 of the 2003 Actf1 applies for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (1) as it applies for the purpose of ascertaining whether a contravention of an access-related condition has occurred or is occurring.

(3)

Sections 138, 139(1) to (5) and 139A of the 2003 Actf2 apply for the enforcement of a requirement under section 135 of the 2003 Act as applied by paragraph (2) as they apply for the enforcement of any other requirement under section 135 of that Act.

9Power of Ofcom to resolve disputes

(1)

Ofcom may resolve a dispute relating to a requirement under Part 2.

(2)

Sections 185 to 191(4) of the 2003 Actf1 apply in the case of a dispute relating to a requirement under Part 2 as they apply in the case of a dispute falling within section 185(1) of that Act.

(3)

Sections 138, 139(1) to (5) and 139A of the 2003 Act apply for the enforcement of a requirement under section 191(1) of the 2003 Act as applied by paragraph (2) as they apply for the enforcement of a requirement under section 135 of that Act.

10Right of appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal

(1)

A person affected by a decision by Ofcom under the 2003 Act as applied by these Regulations may appeal against it to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

(2)

Sections 192, 194A and 196 of the 2003 Actf1 apply in relation to a decision mentioned in paragraph (1) as they apply in relation to a decision mentioned in section 192(1)(a) of that Act.

(3)

In this regulation, “Competition Appeal Tribunal” means the tribunal established under section 12(1) of the Enterprise Act 2002f2;

11Service of notification and other documents

Sections 394(3) to (10) of the 2003 Act apply in relation to any provision of that Act as applied by these Regulations that authorises or requires—

(a)

a notification to be given to any person, or

(b)

a document of any other description (including a copy of a document) to be sent to any person.

12Consolidated Fund

An amount paid to Ofcom in respect of a penalty imposed by it under the 2003 Act as applied by these Regulations must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

13Periodic review of regulatory provision

(1)

The Secretary of State must from time to time—

(a)

carry out a review of the regulatory provision contained in these Regulations, and

(b)

publish a report setting out the conclusions of that review.

(2)

Section 30(3) of the 2015 Actf1 requires that, in relation to each international obligation of the United Kingdom implemented in these Regulations, the review must, so far as is reasonable, have regard to how the obligation is implemented in other countries that are subject to the obligation.

(3)

Section 30(4) of the 2015 Act requires that the report must, in particular—

(a)

set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory provision,

(b)

assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved,

(c)

assess whether those objectives remain appropriate, and

(d)

if those objectives remain appropriate, assess the extent to which they could be achieved in another way that involves less onerous regulatory provision.

(4)

Section 30(5) of the 2015 Act requires that the first report must be published before the fifth anniversary of the date on which these Regulations come into force (see regulation 1(b)).

(5)

Section 30(6) of the 2015 Act requires that subsequent reports must be published at intervals not exceeding five years.

(6)

In this regulation—

  • “the 2015 Act” means the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015f2;

  • “regulatory provision” has the meaning given in section 32 of the 2015 Act.

14Revocations

The enactments cited in the table are revokedf1.

TitleNumber
Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2012 on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the UnionEUR 2012/531
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2116 of 28 November 2019 setting the weighted average of maximum mobile termination rates across the Union and repealing Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1979EUR 2019/2116
The Mobile Roaming (European Communities) Regulations 2007S.I. 2007/1933
The Mobile Roaming (European Communities) (Amendment) Regulations 2009S.I. 2009/1591
The Mobile Roaming (European Communities) (Amendment) Regulations 2013S.I. 2013/822
The Mobile Roaming (European Communities) (Amendment) Regulations 2014S.I. 2014/2715
The Mobile Roaming (EU Exit) Regulations 2019S.I. 2019/587

Signature

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Name

Title

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Date

Maximum rates

Use of mobile phone service (by type)Maximum rate (in euro)
(1)

An “SMS message” is a Short Message Service text message.
The making of a telephone call€0.032 per minute
The receiving of an SMS messagef1Nil
The sending of an SMS message€0.01 per SMS message
The transmission of data (Internet access)€2.50 per gigabyte

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of these Regulations)

These Regulations limit the wholesale roaming rates chargeable to mobile phone service providers in certain countries or territories with which the United Kingdom has an international agreement.

These Regulations give effect to Articles 3.69 of, and Annex XX to, the Free Trade Agreement between Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, and the Kingdom of Norway and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Series No. 3 (2021)).

The following expressions, used below, are defined or otherwise explained in regulation 3: “British provider”, “mobile phone service”, “Ofcom” and “overseas provider”.

Part 2 sets out the maximum rates chargeable to overseas providers in certain countries. In summary:

  • regulation 4 provides that a requirement under Part 2 does not prevent a British provider from limiting the use of its mobile phone service by the customers of an overseas provider;

  • regulations 5 and 6 limit the wholesale roaming rates that a British provider may charge for the use of a mobile phone service by customers of overseas providers in Iceland or Norway.

Part 3 provides for Ofcom to use a limited range of its powers under the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21). In summary:

  • regulation 7 provides for Ofcom to enforce the maximum rates chargeable;

  • regulation 8 authorises Ofcom to require information from certain persons for enforcement purposes.

Part 4 provides for dispute resolution and appeals. In summary:

  • regulation 9 provides for Ofcom to use a limited range of its powers under the Communications Act 2003 to resolve disputes relating to the maximum rates chargeable;

  • regulation 10 provides a right of appeal against a decision made by Ofcom under the Communications Act 2003 as applied by these Regulations.

Part 5 contains miscellaneous provisions. In summary:

  • regulation 11 provides for the service of notification and other documents made under the Communications Act 2003 as applied by these Regulations;

  • regulation 12 requires that any amounts paid to Ofcom by virtue of these Regulations is paid into the Consolidated Fund;

  • regulation 13, which provides for a quinquennial review of the regulatory provision in these Regulations, implements the duty imposed by section 28 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (c. 26);

  • regulation 14 revokes spent enactments.

The text of international agreements may be found online via www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-treaties.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary, or public sector is foreseen.

An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside this instrument at www.legislation.gov.uk.