Mobile termination
The mobile call termination (MCT) market review covers the wholesale service provided by a mobile communications provider to connect a call to a recipient on its network.
Below you can find details of the outcomes of our market review, with links to corresponding documents.
Charge ceiling for wholesale MCT 2019-20
Published 29 January 2019
Ofcom has calculated the nominal charge ceiling applicable under SMP Condition M2.3, for the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 (the Second Relevant Period), to be 0.479 pence per minute. This is the amount that Ofcom will use for monitoring compliance with the wholesale mobile call termination charge control[1] ("the control"). We are publishing this today following the publication of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December 2018, on 16 January 2019.
Wholesale mobile voice call termination (MCT) is the service necessary for a network operator to connect a caller with the intended recipient of a call on a different mobile network. The control sets a charge ceiling (see SMP Condition M2.2 and M2.3)[2] expressed in pence per minute, that limits the amounts that the four national mobile operators can charge other communication providers for MCT.
Ofcom undertook to publish the nominal cap prior to the start of each control year (see paragraphs 1.19, 4.174 and 6.30 of the 2018 Statement). Since the control uses an CPI-X formula, it is only possible to calculate the charge ceiling (in nominal terms) once the CPI has been published.
[1] See Mobile call termination statement, 27 March 2018.
[2] See Mobile call termination statement, Annex 4, Schedule 2, Part 3.
Charge ceiling for wholesale MCT 2020-21
Published 15 January 2020
Ofcom has calculated the nominal charge ceiling applicable under SMP Condition M2.3, for the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 (the Third Relevant Period), to be 0.468 pence per minute. This is the amount that Ofcom will use for monitoring compliance with the wholesale mobile call termination charge control[1] ("the control"). We are publishing this today following the publication of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December 2019, on 15 January 2020.
Wholesale mobile voice call termination (MCT) is the service necessary for a network operator to connect a caller with the intended recipient of a call on a different mobile network. The control sets a charge ceiling (see SMP Condition M2.2 and M2.3)[2] expressed in pence per minute, that limits the amounts that the four national mobile operators can charge other communication providers for MCT.
Ofcom undertook to publish the nominal cap prior to the start of each control year (see paragraphs 1.19, 4.174 and 6.30 of the 2018 Statement). Since the control uses an CPI-X formula, it is only possible to calculate the charge ceiling (in nominal terms) once the CPI has been published.
[1] See Mobile call termination statement (PDF, 1.4 MB), 27 March 2018.
[2] See Mobile call termination statement, Annex 4, Schedule 2, Part 3 (PDF, 2.2 MB).
From 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018(*) | From 1 April 2018 (*) | From 1 June 2018 (*) | From 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 (*) | From 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 (*) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominal prices | 0.495 | 0.495 | 0.489 | 0.479 | 0.468 |
Real (2015/16 prices) | n/a | n/a | 0.468 | 0.449 | 0.433 |
Value of X in CPI-X formula | n/a | n/a | n/a | 4.1% | 3.7% |
(*) MTR cap applies to all mobile communication providers as listed in the 2018 MCT statement.
For background on the caps, see our final statement setting out the conclusion of our review of the wholesale MCT markets 2018-2021.
Previous reviews and Regulations can be accessed from the National Archives.