Your article (Mobile big four cry foul at Ofcom plans to cut costs, 2 April) claims that Ofcom staged a “strategic U-turn” with its proposals for mobile termination rates, by proposing a recommendation set out by the European Commission. The proposals would continue a trend of these rates falling, stretching back over a decade. In August 2008, Ofcom raised the need for rigorous economic analysis to underpin the commission’s proposals.
Ofcom has since conducted extensive analysis, which forms the base of its proposals to reduce termination rates over four years. The article also cites anonymous sources claiming that the timing of Ofcom’s consultation was motivated by the forthcoming election. This is nonsense. As everyone in the industry is aware, the timetable for publication has been public since at least October 2009 and has been determined by the need to have new termination rates in place when the current ones expire next year.
Resource:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/07/ofcom-mobile-termination-rates
