3 and BT launch public campaign to cut the charge that cost Northern Ireland £21.5m in 2008.

Campaign encourages consumers, business and public sector organisations to sign petition for fairer mobile phone costs

Campaign encourages consumers, business and public sector organisations to sign petition for fairer mobile phone costs

3 UK, BT, consumer, business and member groups have today announced the launch of a campaign in Northern Ireland aimed at significantly cutting the cost of calling mobile phones.

The organisations involved are urging people to sign a petition against unfairly high Mobile Termination Rates, which can account for as much as 80 percent of the price per minute of a call from a home phone line to a mobile. Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) are charges paid by operators to connect calls to mobiles and are at the root of the high cost of calling mobiles.

MTRs currently account for 4.7 pence, or more, of every minute of a call to a mobile. This is more than 10-times the termination rate charged to call a fixed-line phone. Last year UK mobile operators charged £750 million in MTRs just for allowing fixed-line customers to call mobiles. That's over £60 million per month or £2 million per day. We want to Terminate the unfair Rate and bring it down to around a penny or less, saving consumers and businesses hundreds of millions. We're asking consumers and businesses to register their support for a fairer deal at www.terminatetherate.org .

High MTRs prevent lower fixed-line to mobile call prices, and prop up high mobile-to-mobile call prices. They also make flat rate deals, popular with internet users and for calling between fixed-lines, impossible to offer.

The European Commission has recognised that high MTRs penalise consumers and stifle competition and on the 7th of May recommended that national regulators like Ofcom take a new approach to setting MTRs to bring them down to reasonable levels. We are calling on Ofcom to implement changes to drive down the cost of MTRs promptly.

Peter Morris, BT Consumer Director, said: 'Calling a mobile from a landline is too expensive and it's down to mobile termination rates. Last year in Northern Ireland alone the cost to consumers was £21.5m. This obsolete charge accounts for up to 80 per cent of the price per minute of a call from a home phone line to a mobile and we want this to stop.'

Kevin Russell, CEO of 3 UK said: 'Our calculations show that the cost of terminating a call on a mobile network is less than a penny. The current regime allows all mobile operators to charge much more, at a cost of millions of pounds to UK consumers. If we Terminate the unfair Rate, everyone will save money. As charges come down, competition between operators will bring down prices for consumers. When this happens we will be able to provide flat rate, unlimited calling offers which include numbers on any UK network. This will give consumers real freedom.'

The Terminate the Rate Campaign has already been joined by a number of groups representing the interest of millions of people across the UK, who are calling for action on unfair Mobile Termination Rates.

Widespread support for the Terminate the Rate Campaign:

Age Concern/Help the Aged
Anne O'Reilly, Chief Executive Age Concern/Help the Aged Northern Ireland said: “Sometimes a telephone is the only connection an elderly person has with the outside world. Over 20% of over 80s live alone, and one in five people over 65 are alone for over 12 hours every day. A cut in the cost of calling mobile allows people to keep in touch with their loved ones, without an unnecessary cost. This is why we are supporting this campaign.'
www.ageconcern.org.uk

Carers Northern Ireland
Helen Ferguson, Director of Carers Northern Ireland, said: 'A telephone is a necessary part of every carer's life because it is used for keeping in touch with the person for whom they look after, as well as being an emergency lifeline, for someone who cannot leave the house. Unnecessary charges involved with such calls could save carers significant amounts of money that could be spent elsewhere. We support this campaign on behalf of all our carers and hope that Ofcom will improve its policies as a result.'
www.carersuk.org

Federation of Small Businesses
Wilfred Mitchell, OBE, Policy Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Northern Ireland said: 'The FSB is supporting the campaign to Terminate the Rate because lower termination rates are good for business, good for consumers and good for the economy. If termination rates came down to their real cost then the UK's 4.7 million small businesses would all save on their phone bills making them more competitive. Consumers will have more money in their pockets because their phone bills will be lower. This extra disposable income will invariably be made available to the hard pressed high street. All in all lower termination rates would boost the economy at this crucial time.'
www.fsb.org.uk

GMB Union
Eamon Coy, Senior Organiser of the GMB Union Northern Ireland said: 'The GMB prides itself on fighting for fairness and this is exactly what this campaign represents. By terminating this redundant charge, our members will save money that could be spent in more significant areas of their business, large or small. We are proud to support this campaign. '
www.gmb.org.uk

Moneysupermarket.com
James Parker, Broadband and Mobile Manager, moneysupermarket.com said: 'The vast majority of people are unaware of this hidden charge and reducing this rate would lead to better deals for everyone, whether you are calling from a mobile or landline. Together, we can help speed up the reduction of MTRs which will make a massive difference to everyone's phone bill.'
www.moneysupermarket.com

NUS
Wes Streeting, President, NUS said: 'Students are particularly feeling the pinch right now, and the National Union of Students is there to help them get a better deal. All students these days have mobile phones and they are particularly hard hit by high call prices whenever they call their friends who happen to be on a different network to their own. And we are particularly excited about the promise of a different kind of mobile phone future, with an all-inclusive fixed monthly price for everything on a mobile, once the artificial price floor is removed. An extra benefit will be that it will cost less for families of students, who might only have fixed lines, to keep in touch with their loved ones while they are away at college.'
www.nus.org.uk

CMA
David Harrington, Leader, Regulatory Affairs said: 'Our members spend over £15 billion a year in the communications market so unfair levels of Mobile Termination Rates are a big issue. They represent some of the biggest mobile services spenders in the UK and so are disproportionately affected by these excessive charges. High mobile termination rates artificially inflate the cost of calling mobiles from landlines or from mobiles on another network. As such, they are an unfair tax on British businesses that are adding to companies’ running costs in already tough economic times. We support Terminate the Rate's call to reduce MTRs to closer to their real cost — something like 1p.'
www.thecma.com

About the Terminate the Rate Campaign

• The Terminate the Rate campaign is open to all.
• The campaign's supporters believe high Mobile Termination Rates are outdated, far too high and the biggest barrier to a better deal for UK phone users, both fixed and mobile.
• The campaign's supporters believe MTRs should be reduced to a fair rate which we believe is around a penny or less.
• MTRs are currently set at more than 10-times the rate to call a mobile phone when compared to calling a fixed-line from a mobile.
• This has led to fixed-line customers paying more than £750 million last year to the mobile networks for something that costs a fraction of that to provide.
• Ofcom started its consultation on the next phase of regulation of MTRs on 20th May 2009 and will be looking at a range of options.
• The EC has called for regulators across Europe to reduce these rates to benefit consumers and to enhance competition.

Individuals, organisations and businesses that wish to register their support, sign a petition or simply learn more about termination rates and the campaign for them to be reduced to a fair level should visit http://www.terminatetherate.org