Vodafone has called on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to withdraw from its regulatory role in the Australian mobile phone industry.

In a submission to the ACCC's Mobile Market Review, Vodafone argued that regulation of termination charges - the fees carriers pay to connect to another carrier's network - were no longer necessary because the level of competition within the Australian mobile industry was healthy enough to protect consumers.

"There are now four separate mobile carriers and six separate mobile networks, delivering commercially negotiated and efficient wholesale prices, value for money, and incentives to innovation and investment. Developments in the rapidly evolving mobile market have been driven by competition, not regulation," said Vodafone managing director Grahame Maher.

The ACCC refused to comment on whether Vodafone's demands were likely to be heeded. "It will be considered as part of the inquiry," ACCC spokesperson Lin Enright told ZDNet Australia  . "We're certainly not going to pre-empt any decision of the inquiry by commenting on submissions as they come in."

Telstra and Optus likewise refused to comment on the wisdom of removing regulation on mobile services.

Vodafone went on to argue that the true hindrance to lower costs in the mobile phone industry in Australia was the virtual monopoly held by Telstra on fixed line charges.

"There's no point forcing mobile operators to cut margins further when there's a government-owned monopoly controlling fixed-to-mobile charges," said Maher. "Forcing mobile operators to cut charges will hurt mobile-only operators, while Telstra will continue to make money on fixed to mobile charges."

Many pundits have predicted that the mobile phone industry cannot survive in its current form, and the next few years will see a consolidation in the industry down to two players. In this context, the removal of regulation by the ACCC may seem premature. Any consolidation between the big four players in the industry is likely to be reluctant, with Telstra and Optus being the largest companies in the area and Vodafone and Hutchison backed by large international companies dedicated to the mobile phone industry.

Last month Telstra CEO Dr Ziggy Switkowski said he expected mobile phone accounts to top 15 million by the end of 2003, and the industry to see greater than 100 percent penetration within the next few years as consumers purchase multiple devices connected to the mobile network.

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