Although the third wave of regulation, which came into force in July 2012, continued the price cap regime for a transitory period with new retail price caps for data
services, it also introduced structural measures, with the aim of steering away from indefinite retail price regulation and to progress to a sustainable, longterm,
market-based approach. The competition-enhancing structural measures ensure that the market is open to different types of providers by mandatory wholesale access from 2012, and on the other hand they increase consumers’choice by allowing them to purchase roaming as a stand-alone service from 2014. Transparency and safeguard mechanisms were
extended to EU customers roaming outside the region.