It has appeared that mobile terminations rates are to be halved by Telecom, the full reduction of which won't come until 2015.

Telecom has offered to decrease mobile termination rates, from 15 cents per minute today down to 7 cents by 2015, in its submission to the Commerce Commission.

It should be noted that the latest move comes after Vodafone proposed to extend its termination deal with 2 Degrees to any other mobile entrants. However, the terms of Vodafone's deal are unknown because of the contractual obligations with 2 Degrees.

After the Commerce Commission threatened price regulation of mobile termination, the concessions are flowing. In a move, which may sound quite ironic to many readers, Business New Zealand called for a return to light-handed regulation in the telecommunications market earlier today.

Paul Reynolds, Telecom's CEO in a statement said: "We recognize that mobile termination rates need to come down over time, and our proposal would represent a significant decrease on today's rates, and a further cut to the rates we had already agreed in the deed we signed with the government."

He added: "At the same time, it is critical that Kiwis continue to have access to world class mobile services at great value across the board. We believe the price path we have proposed balances those two imperatives better than the proposed regulation would, and better serves New Zealanders."

It has been specified by Telecom that it has offered rates on par with those decided by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for use in the mobile market in Australia.