22 European and seven Ukrainian telecommunications operators have agreed to extend lowering their roaming phone call rates for refugees from Ukraine to connect across borders for another 12 months.
This is the fifth 12-month roaming extension committed by the telecom operators. The European Commission, together with the NCEC, the Ukrainian national regulatory authority, facilitated the agreement.
It urged all operators to join the agreement.
The latest data provided by the Body of European regulators of electronic communications (BEREC) shows that the agreement has been efficient in allowing operators to provide affordable calls.
Operators that are signatories of the Joint Statement generally benefit from mutually lower rates than those who have not signed, which in turns means that they can offer lower charges to their customers.
BEREC also notes that both operators from the European Economic Area (EEA) and Ukraine (UA) are passing the benefits resulting from these low rates on to consumers.
EEA operators continue to offer free SIM cards to refugees, free international calls to Ukraine, and monthly packages usable in the host country.
In addition to telecommunications services, EEA operators provide smartphones, power banks, and laptops to refugees or support charity organisations.
The group of seven Ukrainian and 22 European mobile and fixed-line operators includes Orange, Deutsche Telekom and the Vodafone Group including Vodafone Ukraine.