Do you know what a mobile termination rate (MTR) is? No? Alright, let's break it down for ya. Basically, if you're on Telecom and you text a friend on Vodafone, Vodafone charges Telecom for receiving the text. That's the MTR and it gets included in your 20c text message. The MTRs are waaaay higher than what it actually costs them to receive calls and texts but they still choose to charge that much. Currently MTRs are around 15c a minute for calls and 10c per text.

But what can we do about it? Well, that's where Drop the Rate, Mate! comes in. Organisations like Consumer NZ, the NZ Union of Student's Association and 2degrees have joined forces to try to make calling and texting cheaper for us Kiwis. So how does 4-7c for calls and 0.5-1c for texting sound? Pretty darn good to us!

In - or around - December, the Minister for Communications and IT has to make the final decision on whether to drop the MTR, so if you want to show your support for the campaign and have your voice heard, visit www.droptherate.org.nz and sign the petition or text 022 DRP IT M8. It'll mean cheaper calls and texts, lower bills and more competition. You don't have to ask us twice! Get clicking Girlfriends!