HAPPY PHONES

Within the next year or so the number of telephone calls made from mobile phones are likely to outstrip those made on traditional landlines. We are clearly becoming more and more dependent on our mobile phones. That means it's really important that we get good service from the mobile phone companies.

Ofcom, the UK's telecoms regulator has just launched a consultation to see how happy people are with their mobile phone service.

You'll remember that MEPs recently cracked down on mobile roaming charges, and it's looking increasingly likely that further action will be taken on text message charging from abroad.

However another important problem area concerns so called 'mobile termination rates'. These are the charges that mobile phone companies charge each other for routing calls over their networks. Mobile termination rates are the reason why it's almost always more expensive to call a customer on another phone network than on your own network. It's often hard to know how much you're likely to be charged for calling another network.

Both Ofcom and the European Commission are looking at tackling these charges. That way calling between mobile phone networks should be cheaper and the prices more transparent.

What would you like to improve on your mobile phone service? Or are you happy with the service you get for the price you pay?

You can find out more about Ofcom's consultation (and even contribute yourself) on the links below.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/msa08/