Oftel proposes fixed percentage licensing fee

NEWS Oftel has drawn up proposals for bringing its licensing fees in line with the EC Licensing Directive. The directive states that by the end of 1999 all telcos should be charged a fee that is relative to their turnover. At the moment PTO's (public telephony operators) in the UK market are charged a standard fee of £20,000, with the exception of BT, Vodafone, Cellnet and Kingston Communications who each pay an individually negotiated fee. A spokesman for Oftel said the main beneficiaries would be new entrants to the telco market. It proposes that start-ups pay a minimum fixed fee of £3,000 for the first two years, after which they will be charged the same 0.06 - 0.08 per cent of turnover charge that will apply to all telcos. However, he added this will not create a flux of new entrants because this is a small part of the costs by comparison to setting up the infrastructure. The new charges are expected to be in effect from October next year.