Charges for calls from landline to mobile phones to increase: OPTA cannot prevent price increase

Charges for calls from the fixed network to Dutchtone and Tele2Mobiel are to increase. These providers will be raising their terminating tariffs on 1 February. Because of a prior judgment handed down by a court of law, OPTA is powerless to do anything about this price increase. As a result, consumers will pay more than €4 million extra each year for calls from the fixed network to Dutchtone and Tele 2Mobiel. OPTA foresees a domino effect involving other providers. In 2002 OPTA had already calculated that €185 million too much was being paid for calls from landline to mobile phones.

OPTA has granted KPN permission to raise the price of calls to the mobile operator, Dutchtone, by 9% on average. In the meantime KPN has submitted an application to OPTA to raise its charges for calls to Tele2Mobiel. KPN Telecom is doing this because these two mobile operators have raised the terminating tariffs which they charge KPN Telecom for terminating calls.

OPTA believes these charges are excessive

According to OPTA, the charges for calls from fixed to mobile phones are excessively high. This is due to the terminating tariffs charged by the mobile operators. Owing to a lack of adequate competition these tariffs are substantially higher than in other countries within Europe. In the autumn of 2002 OPTA had therefore already decided that mobile operators would be required to reduce their terminating charges in stages on 1 December 2002 and 1 July 2003.

OPTA’s hands are tied

In November 2002, the Administrative Court in Rotterdam ruled that these decisions taken by OPTA would not have any effect, until it had assessed their substance. OPTA’s hands will therefore be tied as long as the matter is before the court.

Two mobile operators, Dutchtone and Tele2Mobiel, have seized on the court’s decision to raise their own terminating tariffs even further. This is contrary to the policy pursued by OPTA and European developments in this respect. OPTA’s positions are in line with an existing trend in Europe towards lowering terminating tariffs. For example, yesterday the British regulatory authority announced that mobile operators will have to reduce their tariffs drastically and that they must be halved within four years.