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39/02
23 July 2002
MOBILE PHONES INQUIRY
Statement of Hypothetical Remedies
The Competition Commission (the Commission) has written
to the four mobile network operators (MNOs), Vodafone, O2 (formerly
BT Cellnet), Orange and T-Mobile (formerly One2One) and to Oftel (the
main parties), outlining its current thinking on the issues as published
on 2 April 2002.
Following the referral from the Director General of Telecommunications
(DGT) on 7 January 2002, the Commission has to decide whether the MNOs
termination charges (i.e. the wholesale charges made by the MNOs to other
operators for terminating calls on their networks) are too high and,
if
so, whether it is in the public interest for such charges to be regulated.
Following the receipt of written and oral evidence from the main parties
and third parties, the Commission’s current thinking on these issues
is set out in the attached
statement (pdf). It must
be stressed that the Commission has not yet reached any conclusions on
any matter. Further evidence is being submitted and two further rounds
of hearings will be held with the main parties. The Commission has until
6 January 2003 to report to the DGT.
The purpose of making this statement of hypothetical
remedies public is to give all interested parties an opportunity to put
any further points to the Commission that they may wish to raise by no
later than Friday 9 August 2002. In particular, comments are invited on
the likely effectiveness, cost and practicability of the remedies that
have been set out. To submit comments please write to:
The Reference Secretary (Mobile Phones)
Competition Commission
New Court
48 Carey Street
London WC2A 2JT
Or email: mobilephones@competition-commission.gsi.gov.uk
Notes to Editors
- The reference was made by the Director General of Telecommunications
(DGT) under the Telecommunications Act 1984, on 7 January 2002 (see
Oftel Press Release 01/02). The Commission was given six months to complete
the inquiry. An extension of six months was granted by the DGT on 23
May 2002.
- The inquiry is being carried out by a group of five Commission members
led by Professor Paul Geroski, a Commission deputy chairman. The other
four members are Nicholas Garthwaite, Diana Guy, Professor Jonathan
Haskel and Roger Munson.
- Further information can be found on the Commission website: www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/mobile.htm
- Enquiries should be directed to: Francis Royle, Press Officer, tel:
020 7271 0242.
Click here to access the statement
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