For the vast majority of people, The One Plan will offer all the calls, texts and data they need at a price that challenges the market.

For £25 a month Three can now offer 2,000 any network minutes, 5,000 Three-to-Three minutes, 5,000 texts and 1GB of data.

You can find further details of the plan at: www.three.co.uk/theone

On 1st April 2010, Ofcom laid out its proposal for lower MTRs being introduced over a four year period, eventually arriving at 0.5p by the end of April 2014/15.

Ofcom’s proposal followed recommendations made last year by the European Commission to lower termination rates across Europe. In May last year the commission said that businesses and households will benefit to the tune of at least €2bn over the four years from 2009 to 2012.

The EC’s request confirms the urgency of this move. By shortening the glide path, mobile operators and fixed-line providers will be able to offer even more competitive deals benefiting UK consumers. It can only be a good thing to introduce these changes as soon as possible.

Today, Mobile News published a piece pulling apart the argument. Please do take a look here.

Ed Vaizey responded:

“The determination of levels of mobile termination rates (MTR) is a regulatory matter for Ofcom. The process for determining the rates is set out in the Communications Act; it requires a market review to be carried out and extensive stakeholder consultation.

“The current regime is due to expire on 31 March 2011 and Ofcom have just concluded a second round of consultation on how rates should be calculated from 1 April next year. Ofcom will publish a statement in the second half of this year setting out the new rates.

“The EU has recently recognised that the UK has one of the lowest levels of MTR in Europe. Ofcom’s proposals aim to reduce this by 85%-down from around 4.3p per minute now to 0.5p per minute by March 2015. This is good news for consumers who will benefit from cheaper calls and increased competition.”

It is encouraging to see such a high profile minister recognising the benefits that low MTRs would bring to consumers in such a public arena.

Vodafone is entitled to make its case and lay out its commercial arguments. However, when Vodafone attempts to enlist the poor, the elderly and otherwise disadvantaged to make its argument, we’re keen that the counter argument gets an airing.

Vodafone’s claims that cutting mobile termination rates will harm the elderly and vulnerable is based on the same discredited argument made by the large mobile phone companies every time a cut in mobile termination rates has been proposed.

Terminate the Rate has mounted a public campaign on the issue and is made up of many organisations that might better speak for vulnerable people than Vodafone or indeed BT and Three.

It’s clear that, as active supporters of Terminate the Rate, Age UK, Crossroads, Macmillan, For Dementia, Carers UK, 4Children and the RNID take a different view to Vodafone.

Every time a cut in Mobile Termination Rates is proposed large mobile phone companies like Vodafone claim that prices will rise and millions of people will abandon their mobile phone. But the reality is that as termination rates have fallen, prices have come down and usage has gone up.

Vodafone reprises the claims made by all the incumbents in 2002.

Unfortunately for these arguments, precisely the opposite has happened when termination rates come down. Mobile usage has gone up, mobile penetration has gone up and call prices have come down.

And that is to say nothing of the benefit to fixed-line users.

Follow this link to see why our supporters want low MTRs implemented as soon as possible.

Ofcom’s proposal to cut the cost of MTRs is not final. Over the next few weeks, the big mobile operators will scrutinise the proposal and challenge Ofcom to try and overturn the recommendation. We now need to do everything we can to show our support for Ofcom to make sure MTRs are lowered.

We need to let Ofcom know we agree with its recommendation for MTRs to be reduced to their true cost. We also need to make it clear we believe the changes should be implemented as soon as possible.

To show your support, please send an email to Ofcom. We’ve made it easy for you to do - just enter your name and address here and we’ll do the rest.

Last year we were all charged hundreds of millions of pounds in unfair fees for calling from landlines to mobiles alone. Let’s now tell Ofcom that we support the proposal for reducing these unfair charges and making calling a mobile cheaper for everyone. Your support will continue to make a real difference.

Unlike the plans outlined by our own telecoms regulator Ofcom, the reduction in MTRs for fixed line and mobile, will be reduced over a two year period and will come into effect on 1st September 2012.

Similar to Ofcom’s consultation process that closes in the UK on 23rd June 2010, Dutch telecom companies and other parties are now invited to respond to OPTA’s proposal before 7th June 2010. The European Commission will also provide its views and a final decision is expected in August.

It is great to see that the issue of high MTRs is being tackled by other countries and that soon the benefits of a low MTR environment will be passed on to Dutch consumers.

Ofcom’s proposals are close to what our campaign has been calling for, however we want to see the drop take effect over a shorter period of time. Four years is a long time to wait for consumers that could be experiencing the benefits of cheaper calling much faster. All Terminate the Rate partners will be encouraged to respond to the consultation directly before the 23rd June in order to show their support for the reduction to 0.5p.

The campaign needs your continued support throughout this next stage to make sure it is very difficult for the other operators to undermine the proposal. Please do look out for our next blog post which will include a link for you to respond to the consultation yourselves through a simple process that should take you no longer than 45 seconds. This will be available from the beginning of next week.

We obviously think low Mobile Termination Rates will bring real benefits to consumers. The reduction is long overdue in our opinion, and we call on Ofcom to bring it in as soon as possible, instead of waiting until 2014 to deliver the full benefit to people around the UK. Today’s decision shows that Ofcom has listened to the 65 organisations, 135,000 people and 262 MPs that backed our call for a reduction. Consumers, businesses, charities, unions and local authorities have made their views clear and can expect better deals as a result.

We thank you for all your support over the last 11 months. This however is not the end, and we will continue to highlight the benefits of low MTRs and support Ofcom’s decision throughout the remaining 12 months of the consultation period, which may see considerable pressure being brought to bear by those in opposition.

This was followed up today by The Guardian, The Telegraph, City Am, The Metro and a comprehensive piece in the Daily Mail. This piece includes a quote from Ofcom’s Chief Executive Ed Richards from last year claiming that as a result of the controversy surrounding high MTRs, Ofcom will examine the issue very carefully. It also details the savings UK consumers would stand to benefit from should MTRs be reduced.

It is encouraging to see there has been so much media interest in the issue already ahead of the announcement later this week.