3 and BT Launch Campaign To Cut The Cost Of Calling Mobile Phones
3 and BT Launch Campaign To Cut The Cost Of Calling Mobile Phones
21st May , 2009
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UK : 3 UK, BT, consumer, business and member groups have joined forces to call for a significant cut in the cost of calling mobile phones. Above shows John Petter of BT (front) and Kevin Russell of 3 at the launch of terminatetherate.org - a campaign to reduce the cost of calling for UK consumers.
The Terminate the Rate Campaign has come together to call for an end to high Mobile Termination Rates, which can account for as much as 80 percent of the price per minute of a call from a home phone line to a mobile. Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) are charges paid by operators to connect calls to mobiles and are at the root of the high cost of calling mobiles.
MTRs currently account for 4.7 pence, or more, of every minute of a call to a mobile. This is more than 10-times the termination rate charged to call a fixed-line phone. Last year UK mobile operators charged £750 million in MTRs just for allowing fixed-line customers to call mobiles. That’s over £60 million per month or £2 million per day. We want to Terminate the unfair Rate and bring it down to around a penny or less, saving consumers and businesses hundreds of millions. We're asking consumers and businesses to register their support for a fairer deal at www.terminatetherate.org .
High MTRs prevent lower fixed-line to mobile call prices, and prop up high mobile-to-mobile call prices. They also make flat rate deals, popular with internet users and for calling between fixed-lines, impossible to offer.
The European Commission has recognised that high MTRs penalise consumers and stifle competition and on the 7th of May recommended that national regulators like Ofcom take a new approach to setting MTRs to bring them down to reasonable levels. We are calling on Ofcom to implement changes to drive down the cost of MTRs promptly.
John Petter, MD, Consumer, BT Retail said: 'Fixed-line phone users know that calling a mobile is too expensive. We've done what we can to bring down that cost, but with MTRs accounting for up to 80 percent of the price per minute of a call from a home phone line to a mobile, the only way to get better prices is to Terminate the unfair Rate.”
Kevin Russell, CEO of 3 UK said: “Our calculations show that the cost of terminating a call on a mobile network is less than a penny. The current regime allows all mobile operators to charge much more, at a cost of millions of pounds to UK consumers. If we Terminate the unfair Rate, everyone will save money. As charges come down, competition between operators will bring down prices for consumers. When this happens we will be able to provide flat rate, unlimited calling offers which include numbers on any UK network. This will give consumers real freedom.”
The Terminate the Rate Campaign has been joined at launch by five groups representing the interest of millions of people across the UK, who are calling for action on unfair Mobile Termination Rates. The Terminate the Rate campaign expects to announce further partners over the coming weeks.
Widespread support for the Terminate the Rate Campaign
Federation of Small Businesses
Stephen Alambritis, Chief Spokesperson for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said: “The FSB is supporting the campaign to Terminate the Rate because lower termination rates are good for business, good for consumers and good for the economy. If termination rates came down to their real cost then the UK’s 4.7 million small businesses would all save on their phone bills making them more competitive. Consumers will have more money in their pockets because their phone bills will be lower. This extra disposable income will invariably be made available to the hard pressed high street. All in all lower termination rates would boost the economy at this crucial time.”
www.fsb.org.uk
Carers UK
Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Carers UK said: “Once people take on caring for a disabled or ill relative, unpaid, they often find that the costs of caring rocket, whilst their income plummets. 77 percent of carers have become financially worse off as a result of becoming a carer. Many are in debt and struggle to make ends meet. They often have to make many calls, keeping in touch with the person for whom they care making sure they are OK, arranging care and other help because they cannot leave the house. We are delighted to back this campaign and hope that Ofcom will make changes to its policies to help improve carers' lives.”
www.carersuk.org
GMB Union
Paul Kenny, General Secretary of the GMB Union said: “Fighting for fairness. That’s what GMB does every day for GMB members. GMB is proud to play a part in the fight to lower Mobile Termination Rates. This will directly save GMB members money, by making it cheaper to use the phone. It will also lower costs for employers helping to free up funds to improve pay and conditions, investment and training. This simple change can benefit everyone and GMB is delighted to be associated with this positive campaign.”
www.gmb.org.uk
NUS
Wes Streeting, President, NUS said: “Students are particularly feeling the pinch right now, and the National Union of Students is there to help them get a better deal. All students these days have mobile phones and they are particularly hard hit by high call prices whenever they call their friends who happen to be on a different network to their own. And we are particularly excited about the promise of a different kind of mobile phone future, with an all-inclusive fixed monthly price for everything on a mobile, once the artificial price floor is removed. An extra benefit will be that it will cost less for families of students, who might only have fixed lines, to keep in touch with their loved ones while they are away at college.”
www.nus.org.uk