Mobile phone industry executives have condemned plans by the UK’s communications industry regulator, the Office of Communications (OFCOM), to slash the cost of calling a mobile phone.
They say the move could stifle investment in the next generation of super-fast mobile broadband networks, end free mobile (cellphone) handsets for contract customers, price millions of pay-as-you-go users out of the market and lead to a flood of job losses.
The regulator on Thursday prepared for a fight with the UK’s big four networks — O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone — by proposing a 90 percent drop in mobile termination rates, the charge the operators levy on each other and on fixed-line companies to connect calls, when the current price cap regime ends next year.
The move could save UK consumers and businesses almost £800 million (US$1.2 billion) a year from 2015, and lead to cheaper calls for Britain’s 32.7 million homes and businesses with a landline.
However, mobile phone industry executives accused OFCOM of trying to grab headlines with its second consumer-friendly move of the week following its call for satellite broadcaster Sky to drop the cost of Sky Sports, to fend off a threat from the Conservative party — if successful in the forthcoming UK general election — to reduce its powers.
“This is a backward step for Britain,” a spokesman for Orange said. “If these measures are put in place they will stifle innovation.”
A Vodafone spokesman said: “A cut of this magnitude deters future investment, makes it less likely that the UK will continue to lead in mobile communications and is at odds with the government’s vision of a Digital Britain.”
OFCOM is adamant that the mobile phone companies should be allowed to use mobile termination rates only to recoup the actual cost of carrying other people’s calls.
The rates had been subsidizing other parts of their businesses but operators will now have to recoup the cost of activities such as investing in new networks from the retail market.
That could mean higher bills and an end to contract customers getting a new phone.
OFCOM admits it could even lead to customers being charged to receive calls — as they are on some US networks. In practice, however, mobile networks are likely instead to slash costs — possibly through job losses — and increase call charges, especially for pre-pay users who make up 60 percent of UK customers. The last time OFCOM reduced mobile termination rates, several networks increased prices for pre-pay users.
Morten Singleton, analyst at Collins Stewart, said: “One of the consequences of this move is the decreasing profitability of the prepaid customer.”
When OFCOM last cut rates, several operators warned that the price caps would lead to an end to subsidized handsets. Instead, price caps have led to the introduction of longer-term contracts with customers having to sign up for 18 months or two years.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS