[asterisk-biz] UK Mobile Needed

[Steve Kennedy]

On Thu, Apr 29, 2010 at 02:40:41PM +0100, Abdul Hakeem wrote:

[snip]
> There's an EU directives in place capping data and roaming charges.
> It's a bit of saying if I put in more secure locks on my door that would
> only give the burglar incentive to try another trick !.

I believe there's a cap in place on roaming charges for voice and data,
not specifically data.

Many data charges are unrealistic anyway (both in wired and unwired
networks) as the backhaul and transit charges are often by X Bytes per
month charges.

> >> And really, how has anyone's business been hurt or impaired by the UK
> operators setting their own termination charges? One assumes you're marking
> it up by your usual margin, so whether you buy at 5.5p and sell at 6p or buy
> at 0.5p and sell at 1p is of little consequence.
> I have been in the UK mobile termination business since the days of
> refilling via Washington DC at 6cents(US) to know the impact of dirty tricks
> by the Big 4, recently Big 5.
> There are subtle ways you can be persuaded, especially when you are facing
> hefty losses.  It's not so simple about you tacking your margin and making a
> profit. Try negotiating an interconnect Agreement with any one of them & try
> to make an economic sense out of the worthless piece of paper handed to you.
> Charges for ported numbers, for example. How do you deal with that when the
> Big 5 monopolize the database ? The numbers belong to OFCOM, no-one's
> privacy is infringed as you are using it for routing purposes, there should
> be fair-play but you are restricted to using a lookup service at 1p a go.
> Imagine if you have 1 million call attempts per day.

a) numbers are not owned by Ofcom but managed by Ofcom. Numbers are in
fact owned by the end-user.

b) The big 5 (and now 6 if you include Virgin) are being firced to open
up the central porting database etc to new-entrants. UK01 (Mundio
Mobile) are such a player and have interconnects (maybe via a 3rd party)
roaming with T-Mobile and porting.

c) SS7 lookups are always free and comes with an interconnect agreement.

Steve

> 
> The point I am trying to make is anything that's 'anti-competition' is
> illegal in the UK.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com
> [mailto:asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Chris Bagnall
> Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 2:16 PM
> To: 'Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion'
> Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] UK Mobile Needed
> 
> > To everyone whose business has been hurt or impaired by the practices of
> the
> > big 5 operators in the UK, perhaps you could all sign a petition by
> following the
> > link below, or attached email:
> > OFCOM is now in consultation to reduce the termination charges to 0.5p.
> 
> Unfortunately, all that'll happen if such a limitation is imposed by Ofcom
> is that the MNOs will look at other ways to recoup the lost revenues (e.g.
> higher data charges, higher roaming charges, higher per-minute charges for
> mobile users, etc.)
> 
> It's an interesting idea, but I fear the "solution" might cause more
> problems than it solves.
> 
> And really, how has anyone's business been hurt or impaired by the UK
> operators setting their own termination charges? One assumes you're marking
> it up by your usual margin, so whether you buy at 5.5p and sell at 6p or buy
> at 0.5p and sell at 1p is of little consequence.
> 
> If nothing else, I struggle to criticise anything that makes people think
> twice before phoning my mobile when I have a perfectly good SIP phone on my
> desk :-)
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Chris
> -- 
> For full contact details visit http://www.minotaur.it
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> 
> 
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