Oftel regularly publishes international benchmarking studies comparing the prices paid by UK consumers for key telecoms services, with the prices paid by consumers elsewhere. The latest survey (published in June 2001) compares prices in Feb 2001 for mobile, internet and fixed line services in the UK with prices in the US and a number of European countries. The full report is available on Oftel's website: www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/research/2001/benc0601.htm.

The key results from the study are generally positive for the UK:

Internet

• UK residential consumers continue to have the lowest prices for both off-peak and peak access and for both metered and unmetered services.

• For business use, UK prices are about average for metered packages, however, UK business consumers benefit from the availability of unmetered packages.

Mobile

• The UK is the cheapest of the 5 benchmarked countries both for domestic and roaming services

Fixed line

• UK prices for residential services compare favourably with prices elsewhere - only Sweden has lower prices

• Business PSTN prices are about average

• ISDN: UK prices are relatively high for ISDN, especially for business consumers.

The results from the study will form part of the data input to the market reviews for the various services.

For further information contact Sarah Evans (tel: 020 7634 5320/e-mail: sarah.evans@oftel.gov.uk).