Australia: ACCC proposes mobile call, SMS termination price cut

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a draft decision on the regulated price that mobile network operators charge each other and fixed-line network operators for receiving calls on their mobile network. For the first time, the ACCC draft decision also sets a regulated price that mobile network operators may charge for receiving SMS messages.

The ACCC expects that the savings will be passed onto consumers either in the way of lower charges or thorough improved call and SMS inclusions in retail plans. In the draft decision, the ACCC proposes a price of terminating calls on Australian mobile networks of 1.61 cents per minute, down from the current rate of 3.6 cents per minute. This is based on benchmarking the costs of terminating voice calls on mobile networks overseas.

The draft decision proposes that these regulated prices for mobile voice and SMS termination take effect from 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2019.

Full content: IT Wire

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