Norway’s National Communications Authority (Nasjonal kommunikasjonsmyndighet, Nkom) has announced that it has sent a draft decision regarding proposed mobile termination rates (MTRs) to the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA). The authority consulted with local mobile network operators (MNOs) between 22 August and 19 September, and has now confirmed that it plans to reduce termination fees over the course of the next three years. The current maximum MTR is set at NOK0.065, and under Nkom’s plans the charge will be reduced to NOK0.054 from 1 March 2018, before further reductions to NOK0.043 from 1 January 2019 and NOK0.032 from 1 January 2020. According to Nkom, the draft decision will apply to eight operators, namely: Com4, Get, ICE, Lycamobile, Phonero, TDC, Telenor and Telia.
The regulator noted that it had based its proposed charges on an updated market analysis of the sector, having also developed an updated version of the Long Run Incremental Cost (LRIC) model used for calculating the costs of termination.