Scrapping charges that telecoms operators make to connect calls to each other�s networks could pave the way for an all-inclusive fixed monthly price for mobile phones, BT and 3 said yesterday.

Scrapping charges that telecoms operators make to connect calls to each other's networks could pave the way for an all-inclusive fixed monthly price for mobile phones, BT and 3 said yesterday.

The two operators said the move would lead to cheaper phone calls just hours after telecoms watchdog Ofcom announced a consultation on the future of the charges, known as mobile termination rates.

BT said the current system costs the British economy £750m a year and was "profoundly unfair and extremely outdated" while mobile firm 3 said it could offer unlimited calls, texts and internet use for a maximum of £35 per month if the charges were scrapped.

John Petter, MD consumer of BT Retail, said: "Our customers are telling us very clearly that they want unlimited flat-rate unmetered tariffs that will give them the transparency, confidence and security so they can manage their household finances.

"Mobile termination rates might sound like the obscure preoccupations of telecom nerds or geeks but their effect is to impose an unfair tax on every household, business and organisation in the UK.

"They fatten the profits of the big four mobile players at the expense of real competition and innovation, and they perpetuate a system of billing that promotes confusion."