BROWSING: EU

2015 was supposed to be the year that EU roaming charges went away. It’s been delayed again – say it isn’t so. As a mobile operator I can see them jumping for joy, but as a consumer and business traveler I can’t say I agree. In...

Four industry groups issued a statement  on Jan. 26 that the European Union's proposed net neutrality rules shouldn't force them to treat traffic on their networks equally. The statement was backed by ETNO, GSMA, Cable Europe and Make the Net Work – groups that represent a number of carriers...

European Commissioners in charge of developing the Digital Single Market have been discussing some of their plans this week, including taxing U.S. tech companies like Google. Guenther Oettinger, the commissioner for digital economy and society, fears that Europe is currently the "loser" in the ICT field. He touted investment and research...

Angel Merkel was the keynote speaker at Vodafone’s Digitising Europe conference last week and shared her vision for net neutrality. Some services in the digital economy require different levels of service and should be treated differently than other data, she said. As a result, her vision...

The European Union is considering a more relaxed approach to net neutrality – even though the European Commission passed a fairly strict interpretation of the concept in April that would ban operators from prioritizing data traffic on the Internet. The newly elected commission, which is now led by...

Editor’s Note: In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this Reader Forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but we maintain some editorial control...

Much of the discussion around big data in Europe has centered on protecting data rather than using it. Revelations connected to the U.S. National Security Administration spying scandal has had a huge impact on Europe, driving a heavy focus on data security at the expense of building...

The European Union trade chief Karel De Gucht believes he's found a solution to a trade dispute with China over telecom equipment subsidies. The EU has been at loggerheads with China, its second-largest trade partner behind the U.S., over what the EU claims are illegal...

Andrus Ansip, the candidate to lead the European Union's Digital Internal Market, is willing to suspend the safe harbor agreement with the U.S. if Europe's security concerns are not addressed. The safe harbor agreement regulates the transfer of Europeans' personal data to the U.S. It affects thousands of technology...

Neelie Kroes, the outgoing EU digital commissioner, fired some parting shots at telcos last week, telling them to “adapt or die.” Speaking at a Brussels conference held by the European Telecommunications Network Operators' association (ETNO), she said that sometimes “the telecoms sector is its own worst...

As the European Parliament met in Brussels to question the incoming telecom head, Gunther Oettinger, industry leaders convened across town with their own agenda for Europe — one that involves less regulation. “We need fewer rules that are streamlined toward an investment-friendly climate and a simpler institutional landscape,” Luigi Gambardella, chairman of...

Vladimir Putin wants to take Russia off the global Internet in case of an emergency, like war or anti-government protests, according to recent reports — reports which, of course, the Kremlin denies. It's easy to dismiss this move as the madness of Vlad (as German Chancellor Angela...

The European Union appears to be taking a couple of regulatory steps that will please Europe's biggest carriers. First, EU member states voted this week to deregulate the voice market, according to Reuters. The measure would remove caps on the amount large carriers can charge smaller...

All European Union countries should make the coveted 700 MHz band available for mobile broadband use by 2020, plus or minus two years, according to a recent report presented to the European Commission. The report concerns the "ultra-high frequency" spectrum band between 470 MHz and...

European regulators have approved Oracle's pending offer for Micros Systems, according to Oracle, which sets the company up to deepen its enterprise offerings for the food and drink, hotel and retail verticals. Oracle announced the $5.3 billion acquisition of Micros Systems in late June. Micros focuses...