A campaign is launched to force mobile operators to reduce their connection charges.
Calling mobile phones from landlines is far too costly, according to a collection of businesses and consumer groups.
The institutions involved - which include BT - have now banded together to form the Terminate the Rate Campaign. The group want mobile network operators to reduce Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs), which are charges for connecting to mobile networks.
According to the campaign, these rates can be responsible for up to 80 percent of the cost of a call from a landline to a mobile. MTRs contribute upwards of 4.7p to every minute of a call to a mobile, more than ten times the rate when calling a landline.
Mobile operators made £750 million from MTRs last year, amounting to £2 million a day, according to Terminate the Rate. The campaign wants to reduce the rate to 1p or less.
"Fixed-line phone users know that calling a mobile is too expensive," said John Petter, managing director of BT Retail's consumer division. "We've done what we can to bring down that cost, but with MTRs accounting for up to 80 percent of the price per minute of a call from a home phone line to a mobile, the only way to get better prices is to terminate the unfair rate."
