Mercosur to Announce End of Roaming Charges within Member Countries

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Mercosur is expected to announce the end of international roaming charges for the countries that make up the bloc on Wednesday, July 17th, according to reports published by Argentinian newspaper La Nación.

To become effective, the measure must be approved by the national parliaments of each member country.

According to La Nación, adopting a “progressive” schedule to eliminate roaming charges was considered, but in the end, it was decided to terminate such charges immediately.

Any resident of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay or Paraguay would stop paying extra for telephone service in the countries within the bloc.

This has supposedly been agreed upon with telecommunications companies.

The measure is in line with European Union practice, which abolished international roaming charges in June 2017.

In the 28 Member States of the EU, users pay the same rates as charged by their home operator supplier for telephone, SMS, and mobile Internet services, regardless of where they are.

The 54th meeting of the Mercosur Council of presidents of its member countries — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay — will be the first after the announcement of the trade agreement with the European Union.

The event will also mark the transfer of the bloc’s rotating presidency to Brazil and it’s President Jair Bolsonaro.