Mercosur agreement approved to eliminate roaming charges between countries in the bloc

Photo Illustration: IP Agency

Asunción, IP Agency.- The Argentine National Congress approved the agreement between the Mercosur countries to eliminate the charging of roaming costs in all member states of the economic bloc. The measure became official this Thursday after its publication in the Official Gazette of said country.

“Approve the Agreement for the Elimination of the Collection of International Roaming Charges to Mercosur End Users, celebrated on July 17, 2019, which consists of eleven (11) articles, which, as an annex, in Spanish, is part of this law,” says the regulations that bear the signature of the authorities of both chambers, who are Vice President Victoria Villarruel and Deputy Martín Menem.

The agreement was reached in 2019 between the member states, under the presidency of Mauricio Macri. However, only now did Congress adhere to the agreement

The agreement consists of 11 articles and among the most important points are that mobile telephone providers must apply to their users, who use international roaming services, the same prices that they charge for mobile services in their own country, according to the modality and plan contracted by each user.

This provision will apply in the event that the user of a provider from a State Party makes or receives voice communications, messaging or accesses data services (Internet access) in international roaming, in the territory of another State Party.

There must be “reasonableness” between the prices charged to the user and the prices of agreements between telecommunications providers.

The formation of a Technical Coordination Committee, composed of representatives of all parties, which will have the objective of enabling the implementation of the agreement, determining the effective date between the States that have ratified it; and supervise the execution and compliance with what was planned.