Terminate the Rate: online petition to cut excessive mobile phone call profits

At the moment Ofcom allows each mobile network operator to charge a massive mark-up above the actual cost of a call.

This mark-up -  called a ‘Termination Rate’, is set at around 5p for every minute of a call to a mobile phone.

The real cost is less than a penny a minute.

Cutting the Termination Rate would enable geniune competition and make critical savings for individuals and for small businesses.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has joined forces with BT (yes, we were surprised at this partnership too; and yes, we do wonder what’s in it for BT.  They won’t be in this for our good.) and 3, to persuade phone regulator Ofcom to reduce the cost of fixed and mobile phone calls made to a different operator than your own.

The campaign partners want to see this cost brought down to the level of what it really costs – less than a penny a minute.

The campaign is called ‘Terminate the Rate’ and other organisations supporting it from the outset include the GMB trades union, Carers UK, price comparison site Moneysupermarket.com and the National Union of Students.

Since the launch, many more organisations have also joined, including Age Concern/Help the Aged and the Post Office. There are now 65 organisations in total supporting the campaign, including 40 local authorities.

Ofcom is currently reviewing this regulation so there is an opportunity to succeed in getting these UK Mobile Termination Rates cut.

This is why FSB has set up this campaign.

If it achieves its purpose, it will save individuals and businesses money through lower phone bills.

But individuals and businesses needs to help it to succeed  – by signing the online petition and getting as many others as possible to do the same.

The campaign is backed by 262 Members of Parliament who have signed a motion in Parliament calling for this change.

The petition already has over 125,000 signatures and the FSB is aiming for 250,000.