The UK Competition Commission has found that charges by operators for receiving calls are too high and uncompetitive, and has set out proposals for action. The Commission has written to the four mobile network operators (Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile), outlining its current thinking, although no formal conclusions will be made until January 2003. The inquiry follows a referral from the Director General of Telecommunications in January 2002.

According to the Commission, termination charges (the wholesale charges made by the mobile operators to other operators for terminating calls on their networks) are not subject to effective competitive constraint, and it is not likely that they will become so in the foreseeable future.

Also, the inquiry has found that fixed-line network operators were indirectly subsidising mobile network operators. This is because termination charges were set above costs.

The Commission is looking at ways to impose a price charge cap on termination charges for all operators. It stressed however that no final decision will be made at this stage. Further evidence is being submitted and two further hearings will be held with the main parties involved.

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.