Substantial benefits and high-quality communication: why does Ukraine need a single roaming zone with the EU?
21 June 2024 18:38
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently signed a law on a single roaming area with the EU. This means that Ukrainians join the EU-Ukraine roaming area and receive roaming services in the EU in the “Roaming like at home” mode.
In practice, this means that when travelling to the EU countries, calls, SMS and data transfer are included in the home package of services, so you do not need to pay extra for roaming services.
How long will the preferential service be available in European roaming and will the cost of communication change? "Komersant Ukrainian" has found out together with telecommunications expert Roman Khimich.
In fact, after the start of the full-scale invasion and massive forced migration of Ukrainians to the EU, national and European operators promptly agreed on preferential roaming services for Ukrainians, the telecommunications expert notes.
“By and large, Ukrainians already have a kind of “roaming like at home” regime, i.e. the opportunity to be served in the EU on very favourable terms. And for the third year in a row, with virtually no time limits. For comparison, the current “roaming like at home” regime, which Ukraine is joining, provides for a four-month limit for services on favourable terms. That is, Ukrainians now have even better conditions in this sense,” Roman Khimich
So, today and until the end of the war, there are likely to be no noticeable changes for consumers, the telecoms expert adds.
“The cost of communication will remain the same. When the war is over, Ukrainians will lose the opportunity for unlimited preferential service in European roaming,” Roman Khimich
On the other hand, “roaming like at home” will be automatically enabled for any Ukrainian SIM card. Nowadays, operators usually limit preferential roaming to certain tariffs, says Roman Khimich.
The law was adopted to fulfil one of the conditions for Ukraine’s European integration in the field of electronic communications.
