UK's Big Four mobile firms join hands to fight the EU

THE UK'S Big Four mobile network operators - that's everyone except 3 - have joined forces to protest at the EC's impostion of roaming charges - the Eurotariff - across the European Union.

They're planning to take their fight to the European Court of Justice for what they see as unnecessary meddling.

They may have a point. Each national mobile market has its differences. For example, it is far cheaper and easier to roll out a mobile network in Belgium or the Netherlands (which are flat), than in Austria or Sweden - which are mountainous.

So why should operators in all four countries be forced to charge the same? Save for the fact that it's proved an extremely popular measure, of course.

The Big Four are worried what the EU's communications commissioner, Viviane Reding, will do next. The answer is easy. She wants to start messing with the so-called 'termination' rates.

These are the charges which mobile network operators charge others for connecting calls to their own network.

In the UK, the comms watchdog - Ofcom - has recently made a ruling on this very subject. Reding's proposals look very similar.

With one big exception. She wants the mobile operators to drop the prices that they charge to the fixed line operators. In effect, she wants to make it cheaper for land lines to call mobile phones.

This interference is all well and good. However, it doesn't take into account the fact that the mobile operators were charged $ billions for the rights to a 3G licence in countries like the UK and Germany.

Reding appears intent on attacking all the ways these mobile operators earn a few bob (erm, small fortune, Ed.) to pay for those licenses.

Who's going to pay for the new spectrum which is being freed up by the analogue TV turn off, if the EU turns around and says the maximum they can charge for a particular service is a couple of pence? µ