Termination rates

The term termination charge (also commonly interconnection fee or interconnect fee - depending on the case also supply fee, origination, interconnection charge, or even short IC fee or IC fee called ) is defined as the amount that a telephone company in the network interconnection for scheduling ( call termination, call termination ) of a telephone conversation one has to pay such from a foreign network to a foreign network, or for the receipt.

The termination charge will each become due if a caller ( A-subscriber ) makes a call to a telephone line ( B-subscriber ) via a network operator, the selected port is not operated by the network operator.

A supply fee is due for the supply of the conversation from the A-subscriber in the network of liaison network operators ( Call-by-Call/Preselection-Anbieter; these numbers so that both the feed and the termination charge ) and to special numbers of service providers that these self- be priced ( offline billing; Germany in 0800, 0900, 0137, 0181, 118 directory assistance services, 019- Internet-by -call).

In many markets, network operators need to make the height of their IC charges by a regulatory authority ( for example, in Germany the Federal Network Agency ) approved.

The charges expected telcos every second among themselves and calculate it accordingly in their retail prices.

Even in conversation transition into foreign networks or mobile networks whose operators require termination charges.

The IC charges may deviate significantly depending on the flow direction, so be irregular. This also the comparatively high rates of fixed and mobile network operators in foreign mobile networks can be explained, whereas calls to own network and landlines from the providers offered often cheaper.

Charges by country

(all net)

In Germany, the termination charges for calls to German mobile networks by the Federal Network Agency of around 7 ct / min were. - Valid until the end of November 2010) to almost 3.4 ct / min. lowered. They were until 30 November 2012.

On 16 November 2012, the Federal Network Agency announced this fee from December 2012 to 1.85 cents / min. want to reduce. On 1 December 2013 the mobile termination rate was then again to 1.79 cents / min. lowered. The remuneration decisions valid until 30 November 2014.

Just two weeks later, on 30 November 2012, the Federal Network Agency also laid the termination charges for terminating calls in the landline network of Deutsche Telekom fixed: with a preliminary determination to 0.36 cents / min. for prime time and 0.25 ct / min. for the handover of a connection in the immediate vicinity of the callee these charges were lowered by about 20 %. When pricing for transit calls to landlines, which are not passed few steps from here to the called party, the German Telekom not subject to regulatory restrictions. In practice, the Telekom calculates your competitors for the remote transfer of compounds from 0.43 to 0.61 ct / min. which corresponds to the fixed charges for the delivery of compounds.

For the first time must Deutsche Telekom's competitors for the passage in its network de facto less charge than for the reverse bias -related. Unlike the German Telekom they fall regardless of the point of delivery of the regulation. It concludes that a network operator Telekom charged with a single transfer point charges more than the reverse of this network operators Deutsche Telekom, which has been criticized in the industry.

Austria

In Austria, the termination charges were set historically landlines depending on the destination port. Thus, the termination charge was to the end of 1999 for local calls at 1.02 ct. / Min, for regional calls at 1.82 cents / min. and calls for the category National at 2.40 cents / min. With the beginning of 2000 the termination rates for the categories Regional and National were slightly lowered and in addition a distinction between peak (weekdays 8 to 18 clock ) introduced and off-peak (weekdays 18-8 clock, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) the off-peak termination rates were less than half the peak termination rates. The fixed-line termination rates were then reduced continuously. It was notable that the fee for National calls remained unchanged for a long time and was later only slightly reduced. This resulted in the termination rate National ( peak) was higher at times, than that for calls to mobile networks. So it was the end of 2011 at 2.16 ct. / Min, during which time the mobile termination charge maximum of 2.01 ct / min. amounted to. Since November 1, 2013, only more between peak and off-peak distinction is made. The maximum termination rate is 0.137 ct / min. ( Peak) or 0,085 ct / min. (Off-peak ).

By late 2008, each individual termination rates were fixed for each mobile networks. This smaller suppliers were favored by higher termination charges. The differences were partly very large, for example, were in the second half of 2007, the charges for calls to the Hutchison 3G network with 11.86 ct / min. more than twice as high as those for calls to the network of Mobilkom Austria with 5.91 ct / min. Since 2009, the termination rates are in all mobile networks symmetrical - that is the same height. Starting with 4.5 ct / min. they were then every six months by around 0.5 ct / min. lowered so that the beginning of 2011, a rate of 2.51 cents / min. was reached. As of June 2011, the rate was 2.01 cents / min. November 1st, 2013, the maximum rate is 0.8049 ct / min.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the mobile termination charges by Swisscom with the other market participants are freely negotiated. If they are not satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations, they can lodge a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission ( ComCom). In 2010, the termination charges amounted to mobile networks of Sunrise and Orange initially 17 cents per minute, in the network of Swisscom 14 cents per minute. As a result, they agreed to lower fees collected from October 2010: 10 cents per minute in the networks of Sunrise and Orange, 8 cents per minute in the Swisscom network. On 1 January 2011 there was a further reduction to 8.75 cents per minute in the networks of Sunrise and Orange as well as 7 cents per minute in the Swisscom network. The termination rates are two to three times as high as for example in the neighboring countries Austria and Germany.