Statement published 30 March 2021
Telephone calls are an essential service for many people. In 2019, 200 billion minutes of calls were made by customers using a landline or a mobile service. People’s continued reliance on mobile calls in particular came to the fore at the start of the spring lockdown announced in March 2020, with a 10%-45% increase of mobile voice traffic across operators, compared with the period before the lockdown. Competition in these markets results in greater choice, innovation, better quality and lower prices for customers. To ensure competition is effective, Ofcom regulates a number of wholesale markets that support our ability to call each other.
We consulted on our proposals for the regulation of wholesale markets for call services in August 2020, taking into account the changes occurring in these markets. Having taken these and responses to our consultation into account, this statement sets out our decisions for the regulation of wholesale markets for call services from April 2021 to March 2026.
