Disqus
I am sure you might be wondering (maybe in fact you know) who this woman is? Well, this is European Commissioner Viviane Reding, who recently commented (during an interview with the FT) that she would not oppose MNOs that wanted to charge users to terminate calls – potentially paving the way for UK OpCos at least to start ratcheting in a set of extra charges.
Luckily for us, the UK OpCos have stated they won’t be doing any such thing as introducing the “receving party pays”.
Interestingly, ZDNet (who covered the story) noted:
A spokesperson for Reding’s office told ZDNet.co.uk that the very suggestion of RPP in Europe was a “lobbying statement” designed to make the Commission’s recommendations for lower termination rates seem unattractive. “We believe that the threat by some to introduce ‘receiving party pays’ is an empty threat, as a company that would introduce this in Europe would kick themselves out of the market,” the spokesperson said.
Right, so that’s much clearer now from the Commissioner’s spokesperson – it was a lobbying statement, designed to provoke a response?! At any rate, people are used to receiving calls for free – changing that mindset would be nigh-on impossible, I think.
[Via: ZDNet.co.uk]
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
