3GScottishUser
19th May 2005, 03:35 AM
From Dow Jones Newswires (18/05/2005):
LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. telecommunications and media regulator Ofcom Wednesday said it will formulate proposals to update its regulation of mobile termination rates in late summer, a move that could have implications for operators using third-generation, or 3G, technology.
Termination rates are the charge a mobile operator levies rival networks, fixed or mobile, to connect to its network. Over the past two years, Ofcom has forced mobile network operators to reduce charges related to calls connected to second-generation networks after it deemed the rates to be too high.
Ofcom's current policy doesn't regulate 3G termination rates, but that policy ends in March 2006. An Ofcom spokesman said 3G services weren't included in the original regulation as it was a new technology and Ofcom didn't want to jeopardize growth in a new market.
An Ofcom spokesman said proposals to update the regulation will be considered in late summer.
Ofcom has a number of options on how to revise the rules. It could decide to maintain its existing policy on restricting termination rates, abandon or amend those restrictions or extend the restrictions to other technologies, like 3G.
However, the spokesman said that it is by no means certain that Ofcom will decide to regulate 3G termination rates.
The consultation could have implications for 3 UK, owned by Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK). 3 UK has been exempt from termination rate regulation because it doesn't operate a 2G network.
Some rival mobile operators have suggested that 3 UK's termination rates are too high.
3 UK is appealing Ofcom's June 2004 ruling that the company has significant market power because it owns a network and thus has control over the termination rates it charges. At that time, Ofcom ruled that all U.K. network operators - 3 UK, Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), O2 PLC (OOM.LN), France Telecom SA's (FTE) Orange and Deutsche Telekom AG's (DT) T-Mobile International AG (TMO.YY) - had significant market power, but only 3 UK appealed the ruling.
3 UK's case will go before the Competition Appeal Tribunal next week, which will then rule whether or not 3 UK has significant market power. That ruling will have implications for the future regulation of 3 UK's termination rates.
A 3 UK spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires: "At no time has Ofcom said it will regulate termination rates."
Ofcom Web site: http://www.ofcom.org
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/050518/15/3slmh.html
LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. telecommunications and media regulator Ofcom Wednesday said it will formulate proposals to update its regulation of mobile termination rates in late summer, a move that could have implications for operators using third-generation, or 3G, technology.
Termination rates are the charge a mobile operator levies rival networks, fixed or mobile, to connect to its network. Over the past two years, Ofcom has forced mobile network operators to reduce charges related to calls connected to second-generation networks after it deemed the rates to be too high.
Ofcom's current policy doesn't regulate 3G termination rates, but that policy ends in March 2006. An Ofcom spokesman said 3G services weren't included in the original regulation as it was a new technology and Ofcom didn't want to jeopardize growth in a new market.
An Ofcom spokesman said proposals to update the regulation will be considered in late summer.
Ofcom has a number of options on how to revise the rules. It could decide to maintain its existing policy on restricting termination rates, abandon or amend those restrictions or extend the restrictions to other technologies, like 3G.
However, the spokesman said that it is by no means certain that Ofcom will decide to regulate 3G termination rates.
The consultation could have implications for 3 UK, owned by Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK). 3 UK has been exempt from termination rate regulation because it doesn't operate a 2G network.
Some rival mobile operators have suggested that 3 UK's termination rates are too high.
3 UK is appealing Ofcom's June 2004 ruling that the company has significant market power because it owns a network and thus has control over the termination rates it charges. At that time, Ofcom ruled that all U.K. network operators - 3 UK, Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), O2 PLC (OOM.LN), France Telecom SA's (FTE) Orange and Deutsche Telekom AG's (DT) T-Mobile International AG (TMO.YY) - had significant market power, but only 3 UK appealed the ruling.
3 UK's case will go before the Competition Appeal Tribunal next week, which will then rule whether or not 3 UK has significant market power. That ruling will have implications for the future regulation of 3 UK's termination rates.
A 3 UK spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires: "At no time has Ofcom said it will regulate termination rates."
Ofcom Web site: http://www.ofcom.org
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/050518/15/3slmh.html