Mozambique: Delegations from 12 countries attend CASP business conference in Maputo
File photo: O País
Mozambique’s Competition Regulatory Authority (ARC) stated today that the INCM, the communications regulator, did not prove unfair competition with telecommunications tariffs below cost, accusing it of acting against the interests of consumers.
In an explanatory note on the actions carried out by that body, with its opinion on the matter, ARC says that it should have been informed by the National Communications Institute of Mozambique (INCM) about the tariff changes, something which did not happen, ARC having opened an investigation in the sector, due to “alleged existence of anti-competitive tariffs or acts of unfair competition”, as claimed by that institute.
“The existence of unfair competition due to the application of tariffs below cost was not demonstrated by the INCM, and, to prove the existence of the same (tariffs below cost) or anti-competitive prices, the mere mention of the fact by the INCM is not enough. This entity [INCM] is responsible for the ‘onus probandi’, which was not done, in clear and flagrant violation of the principle of adopting transparent measures it is bound to under the (…) regulation for determining the operator with a significant position in the telecommunications market,” the ARC comments.
The competition authority accuses the INCM of having acted “in a manner manifestly contrary to the principles set out in the Constitution of the Republic” because “its intervention has no legal basis in the instruments it enunciated when restricting effective competition between mobile telephone operators and increasing the costs of consumer services”.
The opinion states that the average monthly cost per subscriber, according to ARC calculations, went from 73.7 meticais (€1.00) for national calls within the network (average of 343 minutes) to 246.9 meticais (€3.60), after the INCM intervention defining minimum tariffs, and from 183.1 meticais to 776.4 meticais (€2.67 to €11.3) for 10 gigabytes of data.
In the same document, the INCM is recommended to “revoke” the resolution in which it set minimum tariffs – which has since been suspended under government guidance after a vehement social outcry at the price increases – and also to carry out an “in-depth analysis of the telecommunications market, with regard to the signs of anti-competitive practices referred to therein, in strict coordination with the ARC”.
It also wants a joint study between the INCM and ARC on the “best intervention mechanisms in relevant markets, so as not to create restrictions on effective competition between operators that are not strictly necessary, adequate and proportionate, (…) and that ensure, simultaneously, the sustainability of the industry and safeguarding the interests of consumers”.
At issue is the publication by the INCM, on February 19, of a resolution establishing new minimum tariffs in the telecommunications, voice, messaging and data sector, whose adaptation by the three operators, since May 4, led to a substantial increase in tariffs and the end of unlimited packages.
On May 18, hundreds of young Mozambicans took to the streets of Maputo in protest at the measure, saying it was a decision to limit access to information and promising to appeal to the courts, claiming it had no legal basis.
“It’s a political measure to silence Mozambicans,” activist Quitéria Guirengane, representative of the group, told Lusa.
“We want to demand the total revocation of the resolution that approves these tariffs, which are completely insensitive, immoral, anti-competitive, inhumane, unsustainable and disproportionate, because they seriously violate our fundamental rights, whether the right to access to information, the right to education, to work, identity, enshrined in the Constitution,” Guirengane said during the march.
The INCM announced on June 4 the suspension of the resolution setting minimum limits for telecommunications tariffs, as per government guidance, and “additional studies” before moving forward with new measures.
On May 28, the Council of Ministers of Mozambique recommended that the INCM suspend the decision that led to the increase in tariffs, in order to apply prices adjusted to the market, but operators have so far not yet confirmed the return to the tariff packages previously in force.
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