Mobile charges hang in the balance

BT, One2One, Orange and Vodafone sent to the headmaster's study...

Oftel's proposal to cap mobile charges will be referred to the Competition Commission. The telecoms regulator has long claimed that mobile operators' termination costs - a sum charged by operators for calls made on other networks - are far too high. According to Oftel, the peak rate national call on BT's fixed network is 24p for three minutes, while the same call made to one of the mobile network's costs 60p - of which 39p is the termination charge. The proposed cap on termination rates is 12 per cent less than the government-set Retail Price Index for four years. Oftel has proposed caps on termination charges in an attempt to bring down the cost to consumers. The regulator will make its official referral of its proposal to the Competition Commission in early 2002.