asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the recent suggestion by the European Commission that mobile phone companies are charging United Kingdom customers for services to recoup some of the 3G licence costs. [HL680]

The information requested falls within the responsibilities of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which has been asked to reply. The chief executive officer has responded:

I assume that the noble Lord refers to the press release published by the European Commission on 27 November, and the associated formal response to Ofcom on its proposals to extend charge controls in respect of mobile voice call termination. In its formal response, the Commission was broadly supportive of Ofcom's proposal to extend existing charge controls to 3G voice call termination (and to impose a new four-year control to apply irrespective of whether the call is delivered using a 2G or a 3G network). The Commission expressed some concern, however, about Ofcom's assessment of the cost of spectrum used to deliver such calls and invited Ofcom to reconsider its proposed conclusion. Ofcom is currently considering the views of the Commission and UK stakeholders, and plans to publish a concluding statement in March 2007.

The Government are not aware that the Commission has expressed any views on the broader question of whether it is appropriate for mobile phone companies to recoup some or all of the 3G licence costs through charges for telecoms services.