Mobile Phones - Cross Network Calling

You know what it’s like, you want to co-ordinate a night out or a meet-up with your friends and the most convenient method of doing so is to phone each other.

Indeed, your mates are sure to have their phones on them at all times – some even swear by their mobiles.

However, the problems can start when the bill arrives at the end of the month, or if you own a pay as you go mobile phone you’ll most likely be keeping an eye on your credit during those moments of organisation.

For what you may think is a good deal for yourself – free minutes, free texts and the like – to call someone on another network could end up costing you more than you think.

Tariffs on mobile phones are vast and varied – which can affect how much you fork out on calls and texts each month if you’re phoning across networks.

You and your friends are most likely going to be on different plans on different networks – and thus will have to pay varying rates to phone each other.

Cross network calls can be an expensive part of owning mobile phones, but now there are plans to help reduce the costs of cross-network calls.

Indeed, it is these charges that have been identified as one of the leading factors that have contributed towards the rising costs of buying and owning mobile phones over the years.

Research carried out by the European Commission has shown that the costs of switching calls from one network to another range vastly across Europe – with different providers charging different ‘termination rates’.

Worryingly, the research showed that some of the fees that providers charged were costlier to customers compared to the same call made across a traditional land-line.

New rulings from the European Commission have put more pressure on the mobile industry to cut prices on calls and text messages across their networks – which could pave the way for cheaper calls and texts for consumers.