The European Commission has been asked by the world's third largest telecoms company to investigate prices of calls to mobile phones.

In a complaint filed yesterday MCI Worldcom says rival operators in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden are charging excessive prices for calls from fixed networks to mobiles.

It says EU customers are overpaying by about €3.64 billion (£3 billion) a year.

"We are asking the Commission to take measures to reduce prices. This adds substantial costs to our business customers; it is an urgent problem that needs a prompt resolution," said Mr Richard Feasey, vice president at MCI Worldcom.

MCI has no mobile interests in Europe and says the lack of competition in the mobile market means it must charge its business customers higher prices for their calls.

MCI has complained specifically about excessive and discriminatory pricing by five operators: Comviq in Sweden, D1 and D2, the Deutsche Telekom and Mannesmann subsidiaries in Germany, and KPN Mobile and Libertel in the Netherlands.

In its 100 pages of evidence to the EU's competition directorate, MCI claims call charges are as much as 66 per cent above what prices would be under competitive conditions.

The Commission conducted a previous investigation into mobile phone charges, which it closed a year ago. In some markets, such as Ireland, it forced operators to cut prices.

In other markets such as Germany and the Netherlands, the Commission said it had stopped looking into the issue while national regulators took action.