The European Parliament on Tuesday approved an end to mobile phone roaming charges in the EU by 2017 and adopted rules to ensure open internet access. The European Parliament voted on the Telecoms Single Market Regulation (TSM), which will bring some protections for the open internet in Europe. However, the the European Parliament voted against amendments that would have brought clarity and strength to the proposed rules.

As voted, the proposal generally bans discrimination, but falls short in a few areas, including tightening the definition of "specialised services," disallowing the discrimination of different types of traffic.

Earlier this year, the US telecoms regulator put in place "open Internet" rules to prevent operators offering different rates of access depending on fees or the services offered.

The EU rules are similar but they do offer some leeway to operators to market different services but on condition this "does not have an impact on general internet quality."

Roaming charges vary enormously between telecoms operators and many users have ended up paying exorbitant rates -- often without knowing in advance -- to make calls when travelling within the European Union.

The rules will enter into force as soon as the legislation is published in the Official Diary (which could be as early as November, though not yet confirmed).

BEREC, the association of telecoms regulators in Europe, will devise guidelines during a 9 month consultation period that could clarify the interpretation of the rules.