Orange UK, Vodafone UK and O2 UK are disappointed in the Competition Commission's report and proposed terminating charge cuts. They think the British mobile market is highly competitive and does not need intervention.
Orange said it will have to implement the Competition Commission's directives, minimizing the adverse impact on customers and trading partners, and ensuring that the charges are financially neutral for Orange, Dow Jones Newswires reported. At the same time, the company is considering requesting a judicial review to ensure that the Commission's report "does not unfairly penalize mobile customers."
Vodafone UK responded that it strongly disagrees with the outcome of the Competition Commission Report and the Oftel regulation regarding the termination of calls on mobile networks, and that it will be seeking a judicial review of the pricing proposals made by the Competition Commission. Vodafone UK believes that the report's conclusions are fundamentally flawed and that the outcome is likely to mean that the country's 49 million mobile phone users will end up paying more.
O2 UK said it will implement a range of actions aiming to recover lost revenue and protect operating margins and cash flow yield, including delaying the planned launch of commercial 3G services until the second half of 2004. Peter Erskine, mmO2 chief executive, said: "We are disappointed by the outcome of the Competition Commission inquiry.
T-Mobile UK has not responded yet.
