Cap on charges leads to mobile phone cost fall

Ofcom said that mobile phone termination rates - where networks charge each other to connect a call to a mobile or landline - should fall by almost 42 per cent from 0.817p a minute to 0.477p in April 2017.

The watchdog said it has ensured that mobile call charges have continued to fall as the economies of scale in the industry have increased over the last decade. It said in 1995 mobile phone termination rates were as high as 25p.

The regulator said: “Following previous intervention by Ofcom, mobile termination rates have fallen significantly in recent years.”

The watchdog added it intends to publish its final statement on termination rates next month, once the European Commission has approved its plans.