German telecoms watchdog ‘likely’ to regulate mobile termination fees

The German telecoms watchdog is likely to go ahead with plans to regulate mobile termination fees, the rates that wireless operators charge for calls made to their own networks, the organisation’s president said in an interview with daily newspaper Handelsblatt. ‘Given the situation in the market, I see little chance that we will move away from our existing proposal to regulate termination fees,’ Matthias Kurth, president of the Federal Network Agency, said. Termination rates have become a profitable business for wireless operators in Germany. At T-Mobile Deutschland revenues from termination fees make up around 10%-15% of total sales, the paper reported. Both T-Mobile and Vodafone Germany charge a fee of EUR0.11 per minute. Their smaller rivals O2 Germany and E-Plus charge EUR0.12.4 per minute.