Dance a little dance of joy in honour of OFCOM, the UK telecoms regulator, as it has decreed that 3G call prices in good old Blighty are set to tumble from 1st April. OFCOM has, for the first time, applied its regulatory powers to the 3G network, and in particular to Hutchinson Telecom’s 3 service.
3 will be subject to charge controls equivalent 5.9 pence-per-minute (ppm), which is a reduction of some 45% compared to current pricing. In addition, Orange, T-Mobile, O2 and Vodafone will have their charges capped at 5.1ppm for both 2G and 3G calls, which is a cut of around 20% for the first two and 10% for the latter pair. OFCOM feels that the operators have ’significant power in the market’; that the price controls are ‘necessary to protect consumers from unduly high prices’; and that it ‘expects [the reductions] to be passed through to customers’. It estimates that the annuals savings could approach half-a-billion pounds. Go get ‘em, mister government man!
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