LIME urges for fair treatment on termination rates (Jamaica)
The disparity in the termination fees has raised an array of serious allegations against the regulatory environment of Jamaican telecom. According to reports, LIME Jamaica has alleged that it is not on the same page with its competitors when it comes to call termination charges. It is alleged by LIME that while it pays US$0.07 to its rival Digicel for terminating a call on its network, Digicel pays only US$0.01 to LIME.
As per sources, Lime stated that it has paid US$16.82, however collected only US$ 80 million as interconnection fees. LIME opined that Digicel being a powerful company is favored by the authorities on the ground that it has covered milestones in the acquisition arena which includes Jamaica’s third wireless operator, making the discrimination obvious.
Reports reveal that LIME was earlier criticized for lagging behind in providing services in a competitive environment; however, the company was strong on its stand that there was no question of competition when its competitors were favoured by the telecom regulatory. Lime defended its presence in the Jamaican market, despite of its weak performance, by stating that the company cannot afford to make its shareholders face financial loss in lieu of strong presence in the market.
Mobile users to benefit from rate cuts: Ofcom (UK)
Ofcom is all set to reduce the calling cost from mobile phones to other networks and landlines.
A termination charge which is the fees that the mobile phone firms charge from the rival network for handling calls from their networks will fall by 80% over the next four years.
Mobile operators charge between 4.18p and 4.48p to the cost of delivering a call to another network. Ofcom wants this reduced to 0.69p by 2014-15, and claims that it expects the cuts to be passed on to customers.
The phased reductions will begin on April 1 this year with the termination rate for the big four operators – O2, Everything Everywhere, Vodafone and 3UK. The new charging structure should benefit smaller mobile phone operators, which will be able to offer more competitive prices. Lower termination rates will also reduce the cost to landline companies of passing calls to mobile phones.
According to regulator, while mobile phone companies will lose money from the reduction in charges, they are earning more revenues from the rapid growth of data services, such as text messaging. Termination rates only apply to voice calls.
Bouygues adds 334,000 users in H1, revenue up 1%
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French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom had a stable turnover, up 1 percent to EUR 2.175 billion in the first half, compared to EUR 2.144 billion in the year-earlier period. The figure excludes the effect of Bouygues Caraibes, sold in April 2006. Net network revenues were stable at EUR 2.029 billion. Excluding the fall in call termination rates, Bouygues Telecom’s turnover would have risen by 6 percent, the company said. Bouygues praised the success of its Neo plan, introduced on 1 March, and offering unlimited calls to all operators. |
| The plan helped Bouygues add 334,000 customers in the first half. The company had 8.305 million customers at the end of June, or 10 percent more than a year earlier. It said it still has the market’s largest proportion of prepaid customers, 70 percent. Bouygues Telecom sister company, the broadcaster TF1, had revenue up 8 percent to EUR 1.377 billion in the first half, compared to EUR 1.277 billion a year earlier.
Source:http://www.telecompaper.com |
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