Termination rates are the fees paid by the caller's network to the receiving network and for example; if one is with Vodafone and calls a mate on O2, then Vodafone has to pay O2 4.18 pence per minute to terminate the call.

These rates are set by Ofcom to prevent “dominant companies shutting out” competitors by charging exorbitant rates, though mobile terminations that are said to be higher than their fixed-line counterpart.

According to reports, three operators have stated that the regulator does not involve the cost of spectrum, or consider the advantages of reducing low-volume users, when calculating its numbers. They are said to have forwarded their complaint expressing that the rates should fall faster and more, though it’s not expected to change.

Ofcom is said to be directed at reducing the mobile termination rate to what it actually costs to transport the call, which is around 7 penny a minute as calculated by them.

But Vodafone presses that the regulator hasn't considered the sociological advantages of reducing those who make few outgoing calls, it also reveals that Ofcom got the basic figures wrong by failing to include the billions of pounds that operators have spent on those 3G licenses in the year 2000. According to Vodafone's calculations the rate should be at least 1.25 pence.

Moreover, three of them have just informed customers that they'll be paying a penny for SMS received from the 6th of June, which should assist in keeping revenue up.