Mobile calls set to get cheaper

Mobile calls set to get cheaper
By CLAIRE MCENTEE – BusinessDay.co.nz
Last updated 09:53 04/08/2010

The cost of mobile calls looks set to drop after Communications Minister Steven Joyce accepted a Commerce Commission recommendation to regulate mobile termination rates.
The rates are the fees mobile operators charge each other to route calls and texts to their networks.
The Commerce Commission will set prices and other terms mobile carriers must offer. The process will take “several months”.
Mr Joyce said the move will lead to more competitive mobile pricing plans for consumers.
“Following today’s decision I look forward to New Zealand mobile users enjoying more competition between operators and better prices,” he said.
Telecommunications Commissioner Ross Patterson said “the telecommunications industry has emphasised the importance of providing certainty over mobile termination rates, and completing the standard terms development process promptly will provide this certainty.”
“As soon as the changes to the Act giving effect to the minister’s decision come into force, the commission expects to commence a standards terms development process for MTAS,” he said in a statement.
The decision completes the Commerce Commission’s u-turn on mobile termination after Mr Joyce questioned their original recommendation not to regulate after a Vodafone NZ pricing plan raised the hackles of some officials.
In June, the regulator revised its assessment saying the Vodafone plan “undermined” competition and termination rates needed regulation.
It had earlier recommended Joyce accept the phone companies’ offer to lower termination fees to 6 cents by 2014 in a split decision.

Article from stuff.co.nz – http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/3988925/Mobile-calls-set-to-get-cheaper