INTUG on Mobile Termination Rates

The International Telecommunication Users Group (INTUG) has posted a submission it has made to ITU-T Study Group 3 concerning Termination of international calls to mobile networks. The executive summary claims:

• an increasing number of mobile cellular operators are creating a separate tariff for the completion of international calls to their networks 
• these wholesale prices can be as much as 1500% more expensive than calls to a fixed network in the same country
• the mobile operators are leveraging their domestic power in the call termination market into foreign markets for call origination
• with the growing importance of mobile cellular networks, other operators have no alternative but to connect, even when they are unable to negotiate and must pay the price levied by the terminating network
• consequently retail prices to foreign mobile networks can be higher by 10 to 30 cents (Euro or US) per minute
• consumers are frequently unaware of these higher prices
• even if consumers do know that a call will be at a higher price, they frequently have no obvious alternative
• INTUG wishes to see the principle of cost orientation applied to the termination of calls on mobile cellular networks 
• INTUG also wishes to see signatories to the WTO GATS Reference Paper enforce implementation of their commitments to the interconnection of international calls to mobile cellular networks

2:41:47 PM    Google It!    

'3G' battle lines drawn in Asia

CNN has an article on the deployment of 3G systems in Asia: "People have long been hearing about the brave new world of "3G" or "third-generation" technology, which enables users to take photographs, play full-color games or browse the Internet, all on a cell phone." 3G is part of ITU's IMT-2000 initiative, a vision of global wireless access in the 21st century.

11:24:43 AM    Google It!