Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

UK service providers must notify customers when they connect to a different network

New rules from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom will protect customers when they use their mobile phone on a foreign network. In addition, customers will be alerted if they are inadvertently roaming, perhaps because they're near an international border.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS

Opinion Articles

Monday, March 21, 2011

BT increases fixed-line charges as Mobile Termination Rates fall

Mark Bridge writes:

The Terminate The Rate campaign has pretty much run its course. Its aim was to get Mobile Termination Rates reduced. These are the wholesale charges paid when a mobile or fixed-line network connects a call from one of its customers to a rival. Lower MTRs would mean better deals on call charges, the campaign argued.

With Ofcom’s recent announcement that MTRs were going to fall pretty dramatically over the next few years, the campaign is as good as done. I’ll admit to a bit of cynicism when the campaign launched, not least because the European Commission was arguing for the same thing.

The two campaign champions were BT and Three UK. “BT and 3 are working together on a petition that will lower your phone bill by reducing the level of Mobile Termination Rates”. Three, despite having benefited from high MTRs in the past, now wanted them cut. It promised better tariff deals - and, to its credit, it’s delivered.

BT, however, doesn’t appear to be acting so positively. Last year it talked about the benefits of reducing mobile termination rates, saying it would pass the benefit of reduced MTRs onto its customers… but this week, less than a fortnight before UK termination rates drop by over a third, it’s increasing its call charges.

Yes, increasing. The Guardian reports that BT’s UK call charges are going up by 9% at the end of April, with line rental also rising. Millions of consumers will be affected, says The Telegraph.

Hmmm. Perhaps my cynicism about the Terminate The Rate campaign wasn’t quite so misplaced after all. Well done, Three UK. BT, you’ve got some explaining to do.

Print
Author: The Fonecast
4 Comments
Rate this article:
No rating

Categories: Networks and operators, OpinionNumber of views: 11228

Tags: uk three mtr bt tariff

4 comments on article "BT increases fixed-line charges as Mobile Termination Rates fall"

2
0
Avatar image

Mark

3/22/2011 2:04 PM

BT's press office has called me to point out that its call charge increases were put in place before Ofcom's MTR decision - and that BT has recently confirmed its commitment to providing cheaper landline calls to mobiles. A further BT announcement about fixed-to-mobile call charges is expected in the next few months.


0
0
Avatar image

David

3/22/2011 7:59 PM

There's more to BT's price changes than simply offsetting their "mobile terminating" losses. Lets be accurate here - none of the providers have to reduce their prices, their costs are just reduced - so their margins are all higher. As with all markets dominated by a single principal organisation everybody else will sit and watch what BT does. If, as expected, BT slash prices and start bundling calls in their packages we can expect smaller resellers to struggle to compete effectively where Mobile calls account for 30% of their total revenue.

BT have raised their prices 5, 6 times now in the last two years alone. When you couple in their removal of the £1.25 discount for non-paper billing last year (re-iterated this year) their package costs have increased by close to £3, whilst their calls have added 3p in connection fee alone, and 2 to 3p on UK Landline calls outside of their packages.

Much like their "free connection" scam (the one that requires to make 10 calls every month in order to avoid a £5 penalty fee for an unspecified period of time) BT actively misleading with their literature.

That they can continue to sell their products advertising their current rates in the knowledge that they are going to be instituting changes so profound to their billing is the icing on the cake.

That they have the gall to then attack TalkTalk (along with their Plusnet lackey) for a particular advertising technique that was undeniably accurate unless by contortion you specifically ignored BT's unavoidable billing charge that would allow them to proclaim their Line Rental was but £10 a month....no it's not BT. It's £11.25. The adjudication from the ASA is linked in my profile for those interested in the blatant lies BT had to tell, not least the simple fact that only one form if discount can be taken with any single BT product.

If you want to see how insincere Plusnet are about their product, just check out their broadband comparison system and observe how TalkTalk are "hiidden" on a seperate pop-up to conceal the clear "value" disparity.


0
0
Avatar image

InsureThatMobile

4/4/2011 5:07 PM

Theres just something about bt that i just dont trust there, there are always hidden charges somewhere.

how long will it be untill we dont even need lines with the way the mobile phone industry is going surely sooner or later everything will be done by mobile, you'll just have a house phone with a simcard.

i think this is probably why bt are putting in fiber optic cable because they know that line rental can last forever, and as virgine dont charge you any line rental for the optic line then they wont beable to charg us there :D

i would start on three but it just too easy although they have opened call centers in the uk i still manage to talk to some one in pakistan.


0
0
Avatar image

The Fonecast

5/24/2011 7:41 PM

BT has announced it's cutting fixed-to-mobile charges from 28th May - and is planning an "unlimited" tariff for mobile calls as well. bit.ly/lcSjsP

Leave a comment

This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data.
Add comment

Recent Podcasts

The week's top mobile news stories: Vodafone expands, EE celebrates and Europe prepares

Podcast - 19th March 2014

We begin this week's programme by looking at Vodafone's acquisition plans in Spain before moving on to discuss universal mobile chargers and 4G roaming.

There's also time to talk about UK mobile coverage, EE's new customer tracking service, contactless transactions and a smartphone camera that can identify objects hidden behind something else.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Johan Lodenius of MediaTek talks about wearable devices, smartphone evolution and the importance of driving costs down

Podcast - 13th March 2014

This year's Mobile World Congress was notable for the number of product launches by handset manufacturers. To get a better understanding of smartphone manufacturing, we spoke to Johan Lodenius of semiconductor company MediaTek.

He gave us a simple overview of how 'fabless' manufacturing works, discussed developments in smartphones and wearable devices, contemplated the end of the PC era and talked about the importance of driving costs down.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Mobile payments, new smartphones, wearable devices, connected cars, CeBIT and David Cameron

Podcast - 12th March 2014

This week's programme opens with a quick look at David Cameron's commitment to 5G technology and the Internet of Things, which was made in a speech at CeBIT.

Iain and Mark then move on to talk about the other big mobile news headlines from the past few days, including the forthcoming Paym m-payment service, new HTC and LG smartphones, the growth of Chinese handset manufacturers, wearable devices, in-car connectivity and damaged iPhones.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

The rise of OTT messaging and the future of SMS: we talk to Stacy Adams of mBlox

Podcast - 7th March 2014

Messaging was very much on the agenda at Mobile World Congress this year, following Facebook's announcement that it was planning to acquire WhatsApp in a 19 billion dollar deal. So if the future for this type of internet-based 'over the top' messaging service looks good, what does this mean for SMS?

To find out more, we spoke to Stacy Adams of mBlox to learn what was happening in the messaging world, to find out how SMS is being integrated with mobile apps - and to discover some of the other ways SMS was being used by businesses today.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

We talk about 4G LTE coverage and device sensors with OpenSignal at Mobile World Congress

Podcast - 6th March 2014

Even at Mobile World Congress, the relevance of the mobile network operator can sometimes be forgotten. So for a different perspective on this year's event, we spoke to Samuel Johnston from British mobile crowd-sourcing firm OpenSignal.

Samuel discussed the announcements from MWC14 and OpenSignal's latest report into 4G LTE coverage around the world, as well as giving us an exclusive insight into OpenSignal's next research subject.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
First567810121314Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Twitter @TheFonecast RSS podcast feed
Find us on Facebook Subscribe free via iTunes

Archive Calendar

«November 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
28293031123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
2526272829301
2345678

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement