BT and 3 Join Forces To Fight Mobile Termination Rates

Telecommuncations giant BT and 3 have announced that they will be joining forces to eliminate mobile termination rates scheme altogether in a move that will surely infuriate other network operators.

The charge which currently cost 4.7p or more for eevry minute of a call to a mobile is 10 times more than the equivalent rate for a fixed line call and brought more than £2 million per day to mobile phone operators.

Both companies have launched a joint website called Terminatetherate.org to bring down the rate to a penny or less in a bid to save consumers and business hundreds of millions.

BT and 3 argue that the high MTRs prevents lower fixed-line to mobile call prices and significantly adds to the price of mobile-to-mobile call tariffs. 3 argues that a £35 tariff without MTR charges could include unlimited minutes, texts and internet.

The campaign is back by the National Union of Students, Carers UK, the Federation of Small Business, Moneysupermarket and GMB Union. The call comes as Ofcom announced that it will start a public consultation on termination rates after the current regulations expire in two years time.

3’s CEO Kevin Russell said in a press release that "If termination rates went down, we could see an opportunity to bring calling charges down to one pence per minute."

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