
Time to rethink those interoperator call charges
Published: 28 November 2006 17:05 GMT
Mobile customers are being fleeced for calls to competing networks because Ofcom has not cracked down on charges imposed by the UK's five mobile operators, according to the European Commission.
Brussels has sent a letter to the telecoms watchdog highlighting how charges imposed by O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and Hutchison-owned 3 could be detrimental to fair competition in the UK's mobile market.
Got two seconds?
Make your voice heard - take our latest poll.
The five operators have added on average 1.2p per minute to the levy paid by one mobile operator for connecting with another - an attempt to earn back the £22.5bn they collectively forked out for the five UK 3G licences in 2000.
Ofcom has proposed plans to reduce these rates within three years, to between 5.3 pence and 6 pence per minute. But the EC says the proposals do not accurately reflect the current value of the 3G spectrum.
The Commission calls on Ofcom to reconsider its valuation of 3G licences so customers get a better price.
Earlier this year Brussels hit out at mobile operators for overcharging customers who use their phones when abroad.
Ofcom said in a statement: "Ofcom took a large number of cost factors into account in determining its proposed charge controls, including the forward looking opportunity cost of spectrum. Ofcom welcomes the Commission's response and will consider it, and of course all others, ahead of publishing its final view in March 2007."
ROLE INFORMATION Selling: Offshore outsourcing: Application and infrastructure solutions, consulting services (both domain and IT), Systems ...
Unique opportunity to develop profitable new business accounts for class leading smartphones, feature phones, data cards and smartbook product lines ...
Unique connecting market concept between the established markets and the new target markets coming on stream within the immediate future. Inbound ...
Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.
Managing a growing threat: An Executive's Guide to Web Application Security
5 Sources of Value Through a Telecom Expense Management Initiative
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery with CA Recovery Management and VMware...
Adopting Server Virtualization for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
Stories from the web...
Copyright © 2008 CBS Interactive Limited. All rights reserved. Top of page
Peter Cochrane Peter Cochrane's Blog: How the telcos could save themselves Doomed network operators could thrive with a bit of innovation
Peter Cochrane Peter Cochrane's Blog: Facebook saves teen from prison Another unexpected impact of social networking