Mobile call termination charges – where mobile network operators charge a fee to connect calls that are made from another fixed or mobile network – generate more than £2 billion per year for operators and account for about half the price of a typical call from a BT fixed-line phone to a mobile.
Ofcom has been controlling termination charges imposed by dominant 2G networks since 2004, when a review established that mobile network operators control the charges, as callers have no choice but to use an operator’s network to call a customer whose mobile phone is on that network.
To protect consumers, Ofcom therefore imposed restrictions on the amount each of the four 2G mobile network operators could charge to connect a call to its 2G network. In December 2005, Ofcom announced that these charge controls would be extended for a further year.
The relevant regulation expires in 2007, so the regulator has had to look again at the issue. It has now completed the second of three consultations and is inviting comment its proposals. These state:
Comments are requested by 25th May 2006.
The regulator has not yet taken a view as to the appropriate level of the proposed charge controls. It says this will form part of the subject of the third and final consultation later in 2006 when detailed cost modelling has been completed.