THE HAGUE, The Netherlands—KPN Telecom said the charges made against it by the European Commission regarding mobile call termination fees do not “take full account of the complexities of the call termination issue.” The EC formally charged KPN of levying excessive fees on calls from fixed lines to mobile phones following an ongoing investigation into fees charged by KPN and other mobile operators.
KPN is the only operator charged so far, and the commission said it is looking to impose tough rules on mobile carriers that could force them to cut prices. European operators have been criticized for charging excessive fees for interconnection.
“KPN believes that this Dutch case should not have been singled out for this purpose as KPN’s mobile call termination rates are by far the lowest in the Netherlands and in line with the European Union average,” KPN said in a statement.
A study released by U.S.-based TeleGeography in December 2001 showed the cost of calls to mobile phones are often far more expensive than calls to fixed-line telephones. About 31 percent of incoming international calls are made to mobile subscribers in Europe, but those calls account for nearly 80 percent of international carriers’ total termination costs to the region, the company said.
“It’s not uncommon for mobile termination in Europe to cost 10 times as much as fixed-line termination,” said TeleGeography Research Director Stephan Beckert in December.
Late last year, Oftel, the U.K. regulatory agency, referred its proposed decrease in the cost of calling mobile phones to the European Competition Commission. The action came after U.K. mobile-phone operators rejected Oftel’s proposed regulation to lower the price of receiving calls.
PTS, the Swedish national telecom regulator, in January warned Sweden-based mobile operators that it will begin using its wider discretionary powers if it feels that operators are “not working hard enough to add a superior competitive price edge” to the Swedish marketplace.
The PTS wants to see greater price competition, particularly for mobile termination and interconnect rates, in the country.
