Ofcom mulls new mobile, broadband reviews

The chairman of Ofcom has promised to re-examine 'uncompetitive' mobile phone charges and has called for a quicker deployment of broadband technologies.

Speaking at the Communication Management Association conference in London, Lord Currie told delegates he was concerned over mobile call charges, which he said show signs of a market failing to operate competitively.

Lord Currie criticised operators for making it difficult to compare prices between networks on a like-for-like basis.

"The mobile market is characterised by a lack of price visibility. This is a feature usually associated with uncompetitive markets, and we will have to change that," he said.

Last year, Ofcom's predecessor Oftel ordered costs for call termination charges to be cut by up to 15 per cent each year until 2006, measures operators fought hard to avoid.

Ofcom will also re-examine the issue of local loop unbundling during the course of this year, Lord Currie confirmed.

He said he supported the conclusions of the Trade and Industry Committee, which last week published a report criticising the slow pace of broadband development.

And he warned of the danger of becoming "fixated on [ADSL] roll-out" and paying scant regard to other broadband technologies, such as wireless options, which should come onto the market this year.

But he added: "We have got to get to 10Mbps, where it becomes like electricity to the home."