Cheaper calls on the way as Ofcom makes mobile operators cut prices

Consumers should benefit from cheaper mobile phone charges after changes to mobile termination rates are introduced by Ofcom.

Ofcom is introducing mobile termination rates (MTRs) from 1 April.

This means the UK's four national mobile operators, ThreeUK, O2, Everything Everywhere and Vodafone, must cut the amount they charge other operators to connect calls to their networks; a move designed to make calls from mobiles to landlines and between different mobile networks cheaper.

Ofcom said the introduction of MTRs will result in around an 80 per cent reduction in rates over the next four years, adding that it expected these savings to be passed on to consumers.

Mike Wilson, mobile manager at Moneysupermarket said: "Today's announcement is what hard-pressed customers have been waiting for. They will finally get a fairer deal on their landline-to-mobile and cross-network mobile calls.

"For too long consumers have paid over the odds for the calls they make and from April 2011 the charge applied will be significantly cheaper, and will continue to be reduced over the next three years."

Ofcom said that the move to cut MTRs should not adversely affect mobile operators' revenues.

It said MTRs only apply to voice calls and the volume of this traffic has declined. With the growth in the number of people using smartphones, most traffic over mobile networks is now data; which increased by 104 per cent over the past year.