Ukraine and Moldova are set to take a major symbolic step toward European Union membership by joining the bloc's "roam like at home" (RLAH) mobile phone regime on January 1, 2026.
One of the EU's more popular policies since it began in 2017, RLAH allows people who have a mobile contract in one EU member state to be charged domestic rates for calls, text messages, and data when visiting another country in the club.
The RLAH is also applicable in the other non-EU countries of the European Economic Area -- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway -- as well as other states in which some telecom operators have decided to align with EU legislation, like the United Kingdom. But this move is the first time Brussels has invited EU candidate countries to join this part of its single market.
What Does It Mean For Ukraine?
For Ukraine, this move is not entirely unexpected, nor is it something completely new.
When the full-scale invasion of Ukraine occurred in 2022, the bloc's operators, in cooperation with several Ukrainian counterparts, struck a deal allowing Ukrainian refugees in the EU to benefit from either roaming free or very low costs while using their Ukrainian mobile phones.
This benefit has been prolonged on numerous occasions by the EU, most recently in July last year through a vote backed by a qualified majority (55 percent of the member states comprising 65 percent of the total EU population).
In fact, EU diplomats have described this measure as one of the easiest to agree on among themselves, unlike other Ukraine-related policies such as the removal of trade barriers for Ukrainian goods coming into the bloc.
Ukraine will now become a permanent member of the RLAH regime, with a final decision expected by the other members in July. A transition period is expected to be agreed upon until January 1, 2026, to make sure everything goes smoothly. During that transition period a final prolongation of the temporary roam like home provision will also be agreed on in July.
Moldova, which also is expected to join Ukraine in the RLAH area by early next year, doesn't enjoy the same temporary roaming measures as Ukrainians in the EU do, but since last year Moldovan and EU operators have gradually and voluntarily lowered telecom costs.
How Are Ukraine And Moldova Joining RLAH?
Ukraine and Moldova are able to join RLAH because of an opening in the association agreement that both countries struck with the EU in the past decade.
These agreements provided for what is called "mutual internal market treatment" for a product or a service such as roaming. This means that if Kyiv and/or Chisinau complies with all EU legislation for that product or service and the EU is happy with the implementation of the laws, they would be part of the EU's internal market in that specific area.
EU hopefuls in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) don't have this in their respective association agreements with Brussels because they were inked much earlier than those for the EU's eastern neighbors.
Instead, the six Balkan nations created a specific "roam like home" policy among themselves with the aim of gradually reducing tariffs vis-a-vis the EU.
Since last year both Ukraine and Moldova have introduced various EU roaming and telecom legislation. Some relates to technical standards, networks, and pricing, while other legislation addresses practical things like the number of masts and transmitters.
Ukraine's parliament adopted the final necessary bill in this respect in April, and the European Commission received the final notification that all the laws had been published on June 6. It will soon recommend that EU member states vote in favor of Kyiv joining full time.
Moldova, on the other hand, is a few weeks behind Ukraine, but the commission hopes to be notified of all the necessary legislative changes by the end of this month.
While these measures in general are positive for consumers, there is no doubt that both Moldovan and Ukrainian mobile operators will lose out financially, just like EU operators did when RLAH was first introduced. And while the changes have been gradual, operators will likely compensate for their losses by raising charges for consumers in other areas.
There will also be questions around what territory the RLAH policy actually covers when it comes to Moldova and Ukraine. Moldova's Transdniester should be covered, and there could be parts of the Russian-occupied Donbas where it works, but Kyiv has lost many transmitters due to the fighting, and Crimea -- annexed by Russia in 2014 -- is now completely covered by the Russian telecom network.
