UK mobile operator 3 is stepping up its efforts to overturn a ruling by the UK regulator that has forced it to reduce its mobile termination rates in line with the country’s four larger mobile players. According to the Financial Times this morning, 3 UK is to go to the Court of Appeal in an attempt to reverse the earlier Ofcom decision instructing it to slash its termination fees by 45 percent, from £0.107 a minute to £0.059 per minute, by 2010 to 2011. The ruling was the first time that 3 UK had been included within the same pricing controls as its four larger rivals: Vodafone UK, T-Mobile UK, O2 UK and Orange UK. 3 UK failed in an earlier attempt to get the ruling overturned by the UK’s competition appeal tribunal, though it was granted leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal. 

3 UK – which is owned by Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa – argues that, as it has a smaller number of subscribers than its rivals, it pays more in termination fees than it receives. According to CEO Kevin Russell, 3 UK has paid £190 million to rival operators in fees since it launched in 2003. 3 is one of the few mobile operators that has supported EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding’s plans to slash mobile termination fees by as much as 70 percent. The operator argues that fees should be virtually eliminated to allow rival operators to compete purely on retail pricing. The UK case is expected to be heard early next year.