Telecom giant, Vodafone, has requested the Commerce Commission, to make the termination call rates from one network to another, cheaper.

This has urged the Communication Minister, Steven Joyce to ask the Commission, to consider the mobile termination rates issue and arrive at a consensus between the two opinions, which have surfaced in the case.

While two of the Commissions officials are fine with the cuts on the service that has been proposed by Vodafone and Telecom, while another official has recommended a regulation, to be imposed on the service.

It may be noted that the termination rates are charged by an operator to connect to another network and at present, the rates of this facility are very high.

Vodafone has launched a new 'Talk-Add-on offer', offering 200 minutes of voice calls from Vodafone to Vodafone at $12 every month, for its prepaid customers.

Labor Party Communications and IT spokeswoman, Clare Curran states, "This is not a sign of a healthy marketplace and Mr. Joyce should see through it and act. It would be beneficial to customers that the minister took decisive action once the recommendation is received".

Sue Chetwin, who is spokeswoman for, 'Drop the Rate, Mate!' campaign, feels that regulation is important, as that will promote competition in both domestic and international mobile markets.

This is important, as Section 19 of the Telecommunication Act states that only a policy that promotes competition in the telecom market, be taken in consideration.