Mobile Phone Call Charges Set To Fall In 2011

Mobile phone charges are set to fall from 2011 onwards after a ruling from Ofcom, the telecoms regulator will force phone companies to reduce their prices.

In a ruling that will see large falls in the cost of mobile calls, Ofcom is forcing mobile phone companies to reduce the costs of transferring calls from one network to a rival network or landline.

These charges, called termination rates, will be cut from around 4.3p per minute to 0.5p per minute by March 2015.

This move will mean that not only will mobile phone users see large reductions in their call charges, calls from a landline to a mobile phone will also be significantly reduced. BT, for example, has already stated that it will pass any savings on to its customers and we hope that other phone companies will do the same.

Ofcom is also forcing mobile phone companies to speed up the processes that allows a customer to move their mobile phone number from one network to another. Mobile number porting is to be halved from two days to one day, Ofcom is dictating, although this process will still be many time slower than in many European countries.

Speeding up the porting of a mobile number from one network to another will make switching companies more attractive so consumers will be able to benefit from market leading deals as well as cheaper call charges.

These rulings by Ofcom are broadly welcomed. For example, Mike Wilson, mobiles manager at moneysupermarket.com, commented: “It’s been clear for some time that termination rates don’t reflect the real costs of calling a landline or another mobile network. The vast majority of customers are unaware they even pay mobile termination rates, despite the fact they make up a significant cost of a call. We feel this penalises customers unfairly – that’s why we backed the campaign from the start – so it is great to see that Ofcom agrees that this hidden charge has to pretty much go.”

“Ofcom has opted to phase in the reduction, which should appease operators. The mobile phone market is a competitive one so we do expect to see the benefits of the lower costs feed through to customers in the form of cheaper calls or more minutes of voice calls a month in your tariff.”