Ofcom Examines Mobile Telephone Charges

Ofcom Examines Mobile Telephone Charges

Ofcom, the regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom, is starting to probe on the mobile phone industry to transform mobile call charging. According to Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive, the inquiry aims to reduce regulation  and increase competition at a time when the industry is evolving rapidly.
Ofcom will be focusing on the mobile termination rates - the prices the mobile companies charge to access each other's networks. One possible outcome of the probe is a system used in the United States known as “bill and keep” or net payment zero. It is an arrangement that represents a modern approach to interconnection charging in which the networks recover their costs only from their own customers rather than from their competitors. Ofcom will also be centering on how to reduce the number of areas with no mobile reception in the UK and resolve the growing number of consumer complaints regarding mobile services.