This final Determination sets out our resolution to the dispute between Stour Marine Limited (Stour Marine) and Telefonica O2 UK Limited (O2). In this document we refer to this dispute as the Dispute and to Stour Marine and O2 collectively as the Parties.
On 6 December 2009 we received a submission from Stour Marine asking us to consider and determine what the termination rate should be for voice calls that originate on O2s network and that terminate on Stour Marines network. Stour Marine is the holder of mobile number ranges, allocated by Ofcom in 2007 in accordance with the UKs National Telephone Numbering Plan.
Stour Marine is a relatively recent entrant in the provision of mobile services. Its business is currently of a very small scale when compared with that of O2. Its target customers to date are users of marinas. Despite negotiations for some time no termination rate has been agreed between the Parties for voice calls that are made by O2 customers to Stour Marine customers. This means that, currently, it is not possible for O2 customers to make calls to Stour Marine customers (O2 has not opened Stour Marines number ranges on its network). Stour Marine customers can however call O2 customers; the agreed mobile termination rate (MTR) for such calls is 4.4 pence per minute (ppm) in nominal terms (the lowest regulated MTR).
Stour Marine customers can receive calls at least from customers of Orange (recently merged with T-Mobile), Vodafone, H3G and BT. This is because these companies have effectively accepted the MTR requested by Stour Marine for calls that terminate on Stour Marines network.
Stour Marine has said that the lack of agreement with O2 is having a dampening effect on the potential growth of its business, which suggests that its ability to become more of an important competitor to any of the established operators over time is diminished.
In this document we have determined the appropriate termination rate as between the Parties for voice calls that originate on O2s network and that terminate on Stour Marines network. Once the termination rate is in effect, O2 is obliged to open Stour Marines number ranges on its network so that O2 customers will be able to call Stour Marine customers, and vice versa.
Our powers and duties to resolve certain disputes are set out at sections 185-191 of the Communications Act 2003 (the "2003 Act). In accordance with Section 186(4) of the 2003 Act, on 12 February 2010 we decided that it was appropriate to accept this Dispute for resolution and informed the Parties of our decision. We subsequently published a Competition and Consumer Enforcement Bulletin (CCEB) entry setting out the scope of the Dispute.