Anacom wants price reduction on mobile networks this month

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TMN, Vodafone and Optimus will be forced to reduce the prices of calls terminated on their networks in the face of a recent decision by Anacom. The reduction is reflected in the three types of termination – fixed-mobile, mobile-mobile and international-mobile – and will be immediately more «painful» for the operator of the Sonae group where, with regard to voice calls originating in the fixed line, will reach 26 percent.

«The first objective of ICP-ANACOM in the application of the price control obligation is to end all asymmetries in the provision of the mobile call termination service, which for historical reasons still exist in Portugal», justifies the regulator in a statement where he adds that the process will be gradual and will continue until October 2006.

The first reductions are already applied this month and fixed-mobile traffic differs between the three operators. The price of 18.5 cents from TMN and Vodafone drops to 14 cents, a reduction of 24.3 percent, while the values ​​practiced by Optimus, from 27.79 cents, drops 26.2 percent to 20.5 cents. .

Currently, the prices of fixed-mobile termination practiced by Optimus are higher than the prices practiced by the other two competitors, because the Sonae operator has never decreased its termination prices – unlike its rivals – hence the reduction imposed by Anacom is also higher. The regulator admits, however, that the price decrease is made in a more gradual way, «taking into account that the entry of Optimus into the market occurred six years after the first two operators», he explains in the statement.

In the case of international-mobile and mobile-mobile terminations, all operators will have to lower the current 18.7 cents to 14 cents starting next March 7, which translates into a 25.1 percent reduction .

At the beginning of October 2006, the prices charged by the three operators will have to be equivalent to the amount of 11 cents, for the three types of termination already mentioned and on all mobile networks. «An identical termination price for the different types of calls terminating on the mobile network, regardless of their origin, and identical for the three operators in the market, is the situation that leads to a more efficient allocation of resources», concluded Anacom.

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