British telecoms regulator Ofcom said today it is planning to cut the prices that mobile phone operators can charge for connecting calls made from rival networks or landlines.
Ofcom proposed the new charges would come into effect when the current regulation expires in March 2007 and would run until the end of March 2011.
The regulator also said it planned to conduct a review of the wholesale SMS (text message) market in 2007.
Regulation...remains necessary to protect consumers from unduly high prices," Ofcom said in a statement.
Under current rules, Ofcom imposes a limit on average termination charges of 5.63 pence per minute (ppm) or 6.31 ppm, depending on the extent to which operators can use 900MHz or 1800MHz spectrum bands for their networks.
Up to this point, restrictions on charges have only applied to calls connected using operators' existing 2G networks, but the regulator said in March it was considering extending this to new third generation (3G) networks.
The regulator said it was proposing that the average termination charges of Vodafone, O2 , T-Mobile and Orange should be reduced to approximately 5.3ppm across 2G and 3G networks by 2010-11.
It also said Hutchison Whampoa unit 3's average termination charge should be cut from its current level to around 6.0ppm by 2010-11.
Ofcom said the deadline for responses to its proposals was November 22 and that it intended to publish a final statement in early 2007.