By Jaime Llinares Taboada 



  U.K. communications regulator Ofcom on Thursday proposed cutting the cap on termination rates for calls to mobiles by 17% and deregulating call origination services for the April 2021-March 2026 period. 


  The watchdog said it is proposing a cap of 0.389 pence per minute for calls to mobiles, down from the current 0.468 pence cap, for calls to mobiles over the period. The termination rate is paid by the caller's network provider to the recipient's company for connecting the call. 


  As for the cap on calls to landlines, Ofcom proposed keeping it at 0.0292 pence per minute. 


  Ofcom also proposed deregulating a service called wholesale call origination, so that phone companies would no longer need to purchase it from BT Group PLC. 


  At 0919 GMT, shares of BT were down 1.25 pence, or 1.1%, at 108.95 pence. 


  The consultation on these proposals closes on Oct. 7. 


  Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com; @JaimeLlinaresT