Mobile Termination Carrier Selection

Abstract

Adopting the proposal to introduce 'Mobile Termination Carrier Selection' (MTCS) would turn mobile termination into a competitive market. Predominantly, four parallel GSM networks offer coverage in a specific area and, after minor software changes to the GSM-standard, would be able to deliver the termination service to any mobile device (for all F2M and M2M calls). Thus, the mobile termination service would be supplied competitively. The demand side decisions of selecting the terminating networks would be made by either the calling parties themselves (i.e. MTCS at the retail level, call-by-call or preselection) or by the originating networks (i.e. MTCS at the wholesale level). Several arguments, including transaction cost economies, suggest that MTCS at the wholesale level would be most likely to prevail in the market. Efficient prices could be expected as a result of competition. Introducing MTCS would dispense of any need for mobile termination rate regulation. © 2009 Physica-Verlag Heidelberg.