Today I discovered BT and 3 have launched a campaign to get Mobile Termination Rates down to around a penny or less.

What are they? Mobile Termination Rates are a hidden phone charge which apply when you call a friend on a different mobile network, or call a mobile from your landline and their network charges your network a fee for carrying the call. This is currently charged at around 4.7p or more for every minute you’re connected to another network.

The billions of minutes for which this fee is charged adds up to billions of pounds for UK consumers every year. BT and 3 think this is excessive and distorts competition. Removing inflated MTRs would make it possible to offer fixed-price bundles offering unlimited calls, which would include calls to mobile phones on all UK mobile networks. That’s why they’re calling for the industry regulator, Ofcom, to lower the rate to reflect what they actually cost.

I’ve signed the petition which is being presented to Ofcom to help influence its decision about the level of MTRs from April 2011 onwards. The website is www.terminatetherate.org.

I encourage you to think about signing it too. When I was a working single parent, an affordable mobile phone would have been huge help in ensuring I was always quickly in contact with my family. Fair trade isn’t just about coffee from Kenya.