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UK to slash mobile termination rates
16 March 2011
Mobile operators in the UK will be able to charge 80% less to other networks for connecting calls
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Ofcom
mobile termination
Hutchison
3UK
T-Mobile
Orange
Telefónica
O2
UK regulator Ofcom will reduce prices charged by mobile operators to transfer calls from other networks by 80% over the next four years. The regulator will cap mobile termination rates, the charges that mobile operators make to other operators to connect calls to their networks.
The move will affect national mobile network operators, Vodafone, Hutchison Whampoa’s 3UK, Everything Everywhere — owned by T-Mobile and Orange — and Telefónica O2. The cap will become effective from April 1 2011 and the rates will fall annually until 2015.
The slashed rates will lead to cheaper landline services as landline operators will have to pay less to pass calls on to mobiles, said Ofcom.
Other European countries have already implemented cuts to mobile termination rates. Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have cut rates by around 50% this year alone. GTB