Special Report: TerminateTheRate.org

by Dan Lane on 25th May 2009

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James Whatley and Dan Lane visit the famous BT Tower for the launch of TerminateTheRate.org -  a campaign run by Three UK with support from BT to rally the general public to convince Ofcom to force lower termination rates on UK operators.

We interview Kevin Russell, CEO of Three UK who said of his Really Mobile experience “That was genuinely one of the most disconcerting experiences of my life” stay tuned to the end to see why.

Special thanks to Rafe Blandford of All About Symbian and Abul Hussein of Mobile9 for their help with filming and the lovely people at 1000 Heads for inviting us. The header image for this post is used under creative commons from flickr user gee01

Tagged as: bt, bt tower, kevin russell, nus, terminate the rate, termination rates, three

  • Jonathan Cohen

    This would appear to be an amazingly cynical PR stunt on the half of 3 and BT. 3′s termination rates are I believe the highest in the industry and BT without a network of their own are the major payers to all the networks.

    3 make excuses about their high charges, but if they really believe in this they should get their own house in order first. It now appears that after this 3 are actually going to increase their termination rates! Pot, meet kettle.

    How many other services (such as 3 Like Home) will 3 scrap once they have greater market share? Will they drop Skype, MSN etc and claim that they too were just a “promotion”?

    Personally, I don’t trust a word 3 say.

  • Jonathan Cohen

    This would appear to be an amazingly cynical PR stunt on the half of 3 and BT. 3's termination rates are I believe the highest in the industry and BT without a network of their own are the major payers to all the networks.3 make excuses about their high charges, but if they really believe in this they should get their own house in order first. It now appears that after this 3 are actually going to increase their termination rates! Pot, meet kettle.How many other services (such as 3 Like Home) will 3 scrap once they have greater market share? Will they drop Skype, MSN etc and claim that they too were just a “promotion”?Personally, I don't trust a word 3 say.

  • Jonathan Cohen

    This would appear to be an amazingly cynical PR stunt on the half of 3 and BT. 3's termination rates are I believe the highest in the industry and BT without a network of their own are the major payers to all the networks.

    3 make excuses about their high charges, but if they really believe in this they should get their own house in order first. It now appears that after this 3 are actually going to increase their termination rates! Pot, meet kettle.

    How many other services (such as 3 Like Home) will 3 scrap once they have greater market share? Will they drop Skype, MSN etc and claim that they too were just a “promotion”?

    Personally, I don't trust a word 3 say.

  • Anonymous

    Kevin and Marc are really nice guys. I met Kevin Russell when i worked for 3 in a retail store and he made a point of visiting every store after taking over as CEO to introduce himself and to see how things are going.

  • http://invalid.name DanLane

    He visited every single store?!

  • Anonymous

    3 store yeah. Was a while back and only for say 20-30mins each but was nice to be able to at least see and shake hands with the person who is running the company. Course since then I have left 3.

  • worldofnokia

    Kevin and Marc are really nice guys. I met Kevin Russell when i worked for 3 in a retail store and he made a point of visiting every store after taking over as CEO to introduce himself and to see how things are going.

  • worldofnokia

    Kevin and Marc are really nice guys. I met Kevin Russell when i worked for 3 in a retail store and he made a point of visiting every store after taking over as CEO to introduce himself and to see how things are going.

  • http://invalid.name DanLane

    He visited every single store?!

  • http://invalid.name DanLane

    He visited every single store?!

  • worldofnokia

    3 store yeah. Was a while back and only for say 20-30mins each but was nice to be able to at least see and shake hands with the person who is running the company. Course since then I have left 3.

  • worldofnokia

    3 store yeah. Was a while back and only for say 20-30mins each but was nice to be able to at least see and shake hands with the person who is running the company. Course since then I have left 3.

  • http://www.rogerkondrat.com/ Roger Kondrat

    @Jonathon you are not comparing apples to oranges. 3 pays far more per user because they are the smallest provider so they charge more for their termination to make up that shortfall. This in fact a further reason why termination rates are competition distorting and the goal should be complete elimination.@RMP. Thanks guys for doing this and its awesome to see that you all stayed together after the sad changes that occurred over at MIR. Makes me wish I was back in the UK so I could guest a video. Best of luck.West17Media

  • http://benjam.in Ben Smith

    Thanks Roger and for the heads-up with the error earlier!

  • http://blog.rogerkondrat.com Roger Kondrat

    Mate the link for Terminate the rate has a comma in it so it doesn't work. Feel free to delete this comment and make the correction. Will leave a proper comment shortly. ;)

  • http://blog.rogerkondrat.com Roger Kondrat

    Mate the link for Terminate the rate has a comma in it so it doesn't work. Feel free to delete this comment and make the correction. Will leave a proper comment shortly. ;)

  • http://benjam.in Ben Smith

    Thanks Roger and for the heads-up with the error earlier!

  • http://benjam.in Ben Smith

    Thanks Roger and for the heads-up with the error earlier!

  • http://www.twitter.com/gabeuk Gabe

    London looks good from up high.

    One great thing about the UK mobile Internet scene/market is that data pricing is low compared to many other countries.

    For £5 to £8 a month we get (effectively) unlimited data for handset use. That’s the same as a couple of pints. Total bargin. Around London, especially, all five 3G/HSPA networks are good.

    And there are a lot of active users, judging by what I see around the place. Mobile data feels like it’s on the threashold of mass market, no?

  • http://www.twitter.com/gabeuk Gabe

    London looks good from up high.

    One great thing about the UK mobile Internet scene/market is that data pricing is low compared to many other countries.

    For £5 to £8 a month we get (effectively) unlimited data for handset use. That's the same as a couple of pints. Total bargin. Around London, especially, all five 3G/HSPA networks are good.

    And there are a lot of active users, judging by what I see around the place. Mobile data feels like it's on the threashold of mass market, no?

  • http://www.twitter.com/gabeuk Gabe

    London looks good from up high.One great thing about the UK mobile Internet scene/market is that data pricing is low compared to many other countries. For £5 to £8 a month we get (effectively) unlimited data for handset use. That's the same as a couple of pints. Total bargin. Around London, especially, all five 3G/HSPA networks are good.And there are a lot of active users, judging by what I see around the place. Mobile data feels like it's on the threashold of mass market, no?

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