Reducing mobile phone fees may not mean cheaper costs for customers

A shake-up in mobile phone charges by the European Commission (EC) may have unintended consequences for consumers, according to the UK telecoms regulator.

European plans to cut phone bills could hurt those on low incomes, particularly people on pay-as-you go tariffs, Ofcom and the UK Government said.

Brussels wants the fees that mobile phone operators charge for handling each other's calls to be cut by 70%.

But regulators said phone firms may recoup lost income from customers.

Ofcom and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) published the joint statement in response to the EC's proposals.

They said the aim of cutting the price of calls for consumers should be applauded.

However, it warned that plans to change the tariff structure could result in lower bills for the caller, but higher costs for the person receiving the call.

"The Commission has been unduly optimistic in assuming that the fundamental changes it has proposed should take effect by 2011" Joint statement, Ofcom and BERR

This could disadvantage lower spending customers, it argued, particularly those on pay-as-you-go tariffs.

In June, EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said the current disparity in call termination rates between different countries meant that consumers were being ripped off.

'Regulatory plumber'

She said call termination markets in the EU needed a "regulatory plumber" to increase competition.

The UK regulator also said that it has already agreed mobile phone termination rates in the UK until March 2011, and it is reluctant to alter those rates now.

"It therefore appears that the Commission has been unduly optimistic in assuming that the fundamental changes it has proposed should take effect by 2011," it said.

Mobile firms, for whom termination fees account for up to 20% of annual revenues, are lobbying for more gradual reductions.

Earlier this month, Vodafone said it accepted the cost of termination rates would continue to fall, but took issue with the speed at which Brussels was seeking the cuts.

On Tuesday, the EC is expected to announce further measures to cut the cost of using a mobile phone abroad.

The proposals are thought to include a reduction in the cost of text messaging and a price cap on downloading data such as TV shows.

Europe's telecoms watchdogs aims to make mobile phone calls cheaper

The European Commission plans to cut the cost of mobile phone calls by reducing the fees operators charge each other for using their networks.

Europe's telecoms watchdog published guidelines for laws to harmonise so-called call termination fees across the European Union by 2011.

Currently, 27 national authorities regulate fees charged by an operator for handling calls from another.

Brussels said consumers ended up paying for variations in cross-border fees.

Calling for change

The consumer pays the price for these gaps between national regulatory policies Viviane Reding, EU telecoms commissioner

According to EU figures, call termination charges range from 2 euro cents per minute in Cyprus to 18 euro cents in Bulgaria.

The fees that operators levy for switching callers between each other's networks are, on average, nine times higher than those on fixed-line networks.

The Commission said it was these charges that were, in part, to blame for mobile calls being more expensive than fixed-line calls in the EU.

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said: "The consumer pays the price for these gaps between national regulatory policies."

Operators have until 2011 to abide by the new regulations, which the Commision estimated would make calls 70% cheaper.

Last year, Ms Reding set limits on roaming charges for mobile phone calls across the EU, and the industry has a 1 July deadline to slash the cost of texts across the EU.

But the industry body, the GSM Association, opposed the move.

It claimed operators would struggle to absorb the cut in termination charges and consumers might end up paying for more for a mobile phone as a result.

Reducing mobile phone fees may not mean cheaper costs for customers

A shake-up in mobile phone charges by the European Commission (EC) may have unintended consequences for consumers, according to the UK telecoms regulator.

European plans to cut phone bills could hurt those on low incomes, particularly people on pay-as-you go tariffs, Ofcom and the UK Government said.

Brussels wants the fees that mobile phone operators charge for handling each other's calls to be cut by 70%.

But regulators said phone firms may recoup lost income from customers.

Ofcom and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) published the joint statement in response to the EC's proposals.

They said the aim of cutting the price of calls for consumers should be applauded.

However, it warned that plans to change the tariff structure could result in lower bills for the caller, but higher costs for the person receiving the call.

"The Commission has been unduly optimistic in assuming that the fundamental changes it has proposed should take effect by 2011" Joint statement, Ofcom and BERR

This could disadvantage lower spending customers, it argued, particularly those on pay-as-you-go tariffs.

In June, EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said the current disparity in call termination rates between different countries meant that consumers were being ripped off.

'Regulatory plumber'

She said call termination markets in the EU needed a "regulatory plumber" to increase competition.

The UK regulator also said that it has already agreed mobile phone termination rates in the UK until March 2011, and it is reluctant to alter those rates now.

"It therefore appears that the Commission has been unduly optimistic in assuming that the fundamental changes it has proposed should take effect by 2011," it said.

Mobile firms, for whom termination fees account for up to 20% of annual revenues, are lobbying for more gradual reductions.

Earlier this month, Vodafone said it accepted the cost of termination rates would continue to fall, but took issue with the speed at which Brussels was seeking the cuts.

On Tuesday, the EC is expected to announce further measures to cut the cost of using a mobile phone abroad.

The proposals are thought to include a reduction in the cost of text messaging and a price cap on downloading data such as TV shows.

Europe's telecoms watchdogs aims to make mobile phone calls cheaper

The European Commission plans to cut the cost of mobile phone calls by reducing the fees operators charge each other for using their networks.

Europe's telecoms watchdog published guidelines for laws to harmonise so-called call termination fees across the European Union by 2011.

Currently, 27 national authorities regulate fees charged by an operator for handling calls from another.

Brussels said consumers ended up paying for variations in cross-border fees.

Calling for change

The consumer pays the price for these gaps between national regulatory policies Viviane Reding, EU telecoms commissioner

According to EU figures, call termination charges range from 2 euro cents per minute in Cyprus to 18 euro cents in Bulgaria.

The fees that operators levy for switching callers between each other's networks are, on average, nine times higher than those on fixed-line networks.

The Commission said it was these charges that were, in part, to blame for mobile calls being more expensive than fixed-line calls in the EU.

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said: "The consumer pays the price for these gaps between national regulatory policies."

Operators have until 2011 to abide by the new regulations, which the Commision estimated would make calls 70% cheaper.

Last year, Ms Reding set limits on roaming charges for mobile phone calls across the EU, and the industry has a 1 July deadline to slash the cost of texts across the EU.

But the industry body, the GSM Association, opposed the move.

It claimed operators would struggle to absorb the cut in termination charges and consumers might end up paying for more for a mobile phone as a result.

Reducing mobile phone fees may not mean cheaper costs for customers

A shake-up in mobile phone charges by the European Commission (EC) may have unintended consequences for consumers, according to the UK telecoms regulator.

European plans to cut phone bills could hurt those on low incomes, particularly people on pay-as-you go tariffs, Ofcom and the UK Government said.

Brussels wants the fees that mobile phone operators charge for handling each other's calls to be cut by 70%.

But regulators said phone firms may recoup lost income from customers.

Ofcom and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) published the joint statement in response to the EC's proposals.

They said the aim of cutting the price of calls for consumers should be applauded.

However, it warned that plans to change the tariff structure could result in lower bills for the caller, but higher costs for the person receiving the call.

"The Commission has been unduly optimistic in assuming that the fundamental changes it has proposed should take effect by 2011" Joint statement, Ofcom and BERR

This could disadvantage lower spending customers, it argued, particularly those on pay-as-you-go tariffs.

In June, EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said the current disparity in call termination rates between different countries meant that consumers were being ripped off.

'Regulatory plumber'

She said call termination markets in the EU needed a "regulatory plumber" to increase competition.

The UK regulator also said that it has already agreed mobile phone termination rates in the UK until March 2011, and it is reluctant to alter those rates now.

"It therefore appears that the Commission has been unduly optimistic in assuming that the fundamental changes it has proposed should take effect by 2011," it said.

Mobile firms, for whom termination fees account for up to 20% of annual revenues, are lobbying for more gradual reductions.

Earlier this month, Vodafone said it accepted the cost of termination rates would continue to fall, but took issue with the speed at which Brussels was seeking the cuts.

On Tuesday, the EC is expected to announce further measures to cut the cost of using a mobile phone abroad.

The proposals are thought to include a reduction in the cost of text messaging and a price cap on downloading data such as TV shows.

Europe's telecoms watchdogs aims to make mobile phone calls cheaper

The European Commission plans to cut the cost of mobile phone calls by reducing the fees operators charge each other for using their networks.

Europe's telecoms watchdog published guidelines for laws to harmonise so-called call termination fees across the European Union by 2011.

Currently, 27 national authorities regulate fees charged by an operator for handling calls from another.

Brussels said consumers ended up paying for variations in cross-border fees.

Calling for change

The consumer pays the price for these gaps between national regulatory policies Viviane Reding, EU telecoms commissioner

According to EU figures, call termination charges range from 2 euro cents per minute in Cyprus to 18 euro cents in Bulgaria.

The fees that operators levy for switching callers between each other's networks are, on average, nine times higher than those on fixed-line networks.

The Commission said it was these charges that were, in part, to blame for mobile calls being more expensive than fixed-line calls in the EU.

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said: "The consumer pays the price for these gaps between national regulatory policies."

Operators have until 2011 to abide by the new regulations, which the Commision estimated would make calls 70% cheaper.

Last year, Ms Reding set limits on roaming charges for mobile phone calls across the EU, and the industry has a 1 July deadline to slash the cost of texts across the EU.

But the industry body, the GSM Association, opposed the move.

It claimed operators would struggle to absorb the cut in termination charges and consumers might end up paying for more for a mobile phone as a result.

Doctors can already make diagnoses over the web

The future of NHS care does not lie in bricks-and-mortar hospitals, according to policy expert Nick Bosanquet.

In this week's Scrubbing Up Professor Bosanquet, a director of the centre-right think-tank Reform - predicts we could one day be texting in test results day and night to doctors who could give an instant verdict.

The NHS has a powerful fixation on hospital treatment - even though it does not have the staff on many wards to deliver a reliable quality of care or basic information on outcomes.

Instead of tinkering with the existing system, perhaps it is time to start on more radical changes.

The NHS should establish virtual hospitals that can provide 24-hour cover.

Patients could be sitting at home and could send in data on their condition. They could get in touch with doctors very easily, perhaps by text.

The NHS is building the wrong hospitals in the wrong places

And there are recorders now which can send back pulse rates, or even take a blood sample to monitor things like blood glucose levels.

Instead of thinking about how they are going to get to hospital, patients could get immediate answers and immediate help for their problems.

Hospitals would become communication and day treatment hubs.

Wrong hospital - wrong place

The concept of virtual medicine is gaining a following, particularly in rural areas such as Cornwall and in Kent.

And there are projects such as the one that actually works at Kingston Hospital where young people can go for sexual health checks - and get the results texted back to them.

That's something that would have been unheard of a few years ago.

Too often priorities in the NHS have been set not by customer needs but by a trinity of providers - big government, monopoly professions and big contractors.

SCRUBBING UP The BBC News website is launching the "Scrubbing Up" weekly column, where leading clinicians and experts give their perspectives on issues in health Each week, you will be able to have your say

The NHS is building the wrong hospitals in the wrong places - a kind of health Maginot Line.

The losers have been the patients who have lost out on better care.

But the new spending limits placed on the NHS could trigger a rethink.

Funding increases are predicted by the government to fall from 9-10% a year to 3-4%.

That's no reason for gloom. It could spur a redesign over the next decade to more personal, more effective services.

Obsolete services

There has been little incentive to invest in a new kind of health service while the easy option of continued growth in high spending in the old one remains.

But even during the high-funding period, many of the most effective programmes have been low-cost - such as the National Service Framework for coronary heart disease which identifies and treats high-risk patients.

And the quality agenda set out by health minister and surgeon Lord Darzi recently showed how quality does not need big spending.

Rural areas in particular could benefit.

We should put the advances in communication technology which have revolutionised services such as air travel to better use, through locally driven investment programmes which create powerful incentives for fast results.

Above all we must give the local health agencies the power and the responsibility to develop new kinds of links with users and offer them a greater range of providers.

Local teams must be empowered to invest in new ways of providing care financed by savings on obsolete services.

This new agenda faces up to the fiscal and labour market consequences of an ageing population.

With fewer younger tax-payers or healthcare workers and more older service-users, we have to look at ways of producing more value for the health pound.

The advert compared the iPhone's 3G and 2G models

An Apple iPhone advert has been banned by the advertising standards watchdog for exaggerating the phone's speed.

The advert boasted the new 3G model was "really fast" and showed it loading internet pages in under a second.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints by 17 people who said the TV advert had misled them as to its speed.

Apple UK said it was comparing the 3G model with its 2G predecessor and its claims were "relative not absolute".

The advert repeatedly stated that the phone was "really fast" and showed news pages and the Google maps service taking just fractions of a second to appear.

Text on the screen said: "Network performance will vary by location."

After upholding the viewers' complaints, the ASA said the advert must not appear again in the same form.

It said the advert was likely to lead viewers to believe that the device actually operated at or near to the speeds shown in the advert.

The watchdog concluded: "Because we understood that it did not, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead."

Apple said its claims were "relative rather than absolute in nature" - implying the 3G iPhone was "really fast" in comparison to the previous generation - and therefore the advert was not misleading.

The company also said the average consumer would realise the phone's performance would vary - a point they said was made clear by the text stating "network performance will vary by location".

Doctors can already make diagnoses over the web

The future of NHS care does not lie in bricks-and-mortar hospitals, according to policy expert Nick Bosanquet.

In this week's Scrubbing Up Professor Bosanquet, a director of the centre-right think-tank Reform - predicts we could one day be texting in test results day and night to doctors who could give an instant verdict.

The NHS has a powerful fixation on hospital treatment - even though it does not have the staff on many wards to deliver a reliable quality of care or basic information on outcomes.

Instead of tinkering with the existing system, perhaps it is time to start on more radical changes.

The NHS should establish virtual hospitals that can provide 24-hour cover.

Patients could be sitting at home and could send in data on their condition. They could get in touch with doctors very easily, perhaps by text.

The NHS is building the wrong hospitals in the wrong places

And there are recorders now which can send back pulse rates, or even take a blood sample to monitor things like blood glucose levels.

Instead of thinking about how they are going to get to hospital, patients could get immediate answers and immediate help for their problems.

Hospitals would become communication and day treatment hubs.

Wrong hospital - wrong place

The concept of virtual medicine is gaining a following, particularly in rural areas such as Cornwall and in Kent.

And there are projects such as the one that actually works at Kingston Hospital where young people can go for sexual health checks - and get the results texted back to them.

That's something that would have been unheard of a few years ago.

Too often priorities in the NHS have been set not by customer needs but by a trinity of providers - big government, monopoly professions and big contractors.

SCRUBBING UP The BBC News website is launching the "Scrubbing Up" weekly column, where leading clinicians and experts give their perspectives on issues in health Each week, you will be able to have your say

The NHS is building the wrong hospitals in the wrong places - a kind of health Maginot Line.

The losers have been the patients who have lost out on better care.

But the new spending limits placed on the NHS could trigger a rethink.

Funding increases are predicted by the government to fall from 9-10% a year to 3-4%.

That's no reason for gloom. It could spur a redesign over the next decade to more personal, more effective services.

Obsolete services

There has been little incentive to invest in a new kind of health service while the easy option of continued growth in high spending in the old one remains.

But even during the high-funding period, many of the most effective programmes have been low-cost - such as the National Service Framework for coronary heart disease which identifies and treats high-risk patients.

And the quality agenda set out by health minister and surgeon Lord Darzi recently showed how quality does not need big spending.

Rural areas in particular could benefit.

We should put the advances in communication technology which have revolutionised services such as air travel to better use, through locally driven investment programmes which create powerful incentives for fast results.

Above all we must give the local health agencies the power and the responsibility to develop new kinds of links with users and offer them a greater range of providers.

Local teams must be empowered to invest in new ways of providing care financed by savings on obsolete services.

This new agenda faces up to the fiscal and labour market consequences of an ageing population.

With fewer younger tax-payers or healthcare workers and more older service-users, we have to look at ways of producing more value for the health pound.

The advert compared the iPhone's 3G and 2G models

An Apple iPhone advert has been banned by the advertising standards watchdog for exaggerating the phone's speed.

The advert boasted the new 3G model was "really fast" and showed it loading internet pages in under a second.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints by 17 people who said the TV advert had misled them as to its speed.

Apple UK said it was comparing the 3G model with its 2G predecessor and its claims were "relative not absolute".

The advert repeatedly stated that the phone was "really fast" and showed news pages and the Google maps service taking just fractions of a second to appear.

Text on the screen said: "Network performance will vary by location."

After upholding the viewers' complaints, the ASA said the advert must not appear again in the same form.

It said the advert was likely to lead viewers to believe that the device actually operated at or near to the speeds shown in the advert.

The watchdog concluded: "Because we understood that it did not, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead."

Apple said its claims were "relative rather than absolute in nature" - implying the 3G iPhone was "really fast" in comparison to the previous generation - and therefore the advert was not misleading.

The company also said the average consumer would realise the phone's performance would vary - a point they said was made clear by the text stating "network performance will vary by location".