ARCEP says that when a French mobile operator customer is abroad, they are roaming on the visited operators network, and that each call minute, each SMS sent, and each data consumed uses the visited networks resources. The regulators RLAH framework is designed to keep eligible usage priced as at home while still allowing tightly bounded exceptions around mobile internet access. Under the same principle, business roaming can keep communications and data use aligned with the users domestic offer.
For calls and SMS, ARCEP says mobile operators cannot introduce restrictions on the calls and SMS that can be used while roaming. ARCEP also says that call and SMS volumes included in a users offer must be accessible in roaming as at home within the geographic zone where the RLAH principle applies, and that during travel in that zone the listed services are billed at the national rate and under the conditions of the users domestic operator offer.
On mobile internet, ARCEP says it must also be accessible while roaming in the RLAH zone as at home, with particular rules for unlimited or particularly generous mobile internet offers and for prepaid offers. In those cases, operators may set a usage limit for mobile internet outside the domestic territory, and beyond any reasonable threshold defined by the operator, mobile internet may be billed with a surcharge relative to the national tariff. ARCEP further says that the eligible minimum volume of mobile internet is governed by regulation and that operators can request authorization, for up to 12 months, to make roaming offers less generous than the standard if they demonstrate a significant deficit under the regulation, with the required deficit greater than 3% of the operators margin on mobile services. ARCEP also states that operators must inform clients at least one month in advance of any changes to contractual conditions.
RLAH surcharge removal covers EU and EEA travel. ARCEP says that since 15 June 2017, roaming surcharges have been removed for European users traveling to another EU country, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, and that from 1 January 2026 the same surcharge removal applies for users traveling to Ukraine and Moldova. ARCEP says these rules come from a European regulation that applies to operators across the EEA, and that the regulations application was extended via decisions for Ukraine and for Moldova.
ARCEPs published guidance also lists the RLAH zone countries and clarifies where the rules do not apply. The regulator says the RLAH zone includes Germany, Croatia, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Sweden, plus Austria, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Moldova, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine; Belgium, Spain, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Romania; Bulgaria, Estonia, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, and Slovakia; and Cyprus, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Poland, and Slovenia. ARCEP states that these rules do not apply to roaming communications between EEA states that are outside EU member states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) and Ukraine or Moldova, nor between Ukraine and Moldova. It also notes that since 1 January 2021, the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union and is treated as a third country under the EU roaming-like-at-home regulation, while operators may voluntarily keep removing roaming surcharges for French customers traveling to the United Kingdom and ARCEP advises customers to check their contract or contact their operator for details.