After Anacom’s (the telecoms regulator) proposal of a 46% reduction in mobile termination prices over a 14-month period, TMN issued a communiqué stating that it considers this proposal "completely incomprehensible and harmful", "making the Portuguese case one of the most aggressive reductions at European level".
The communiqué says that this position reflects “Anacom’s complete dissociation from the current economic conjuncture” and from “the investment effort made by TMN, essential for the dynamisation of this sector and of national economy”. It is also mentioned that “the Portuguese mobile sector is a case of success and excellence in terms of investment and innovation, being one of the most developed UMTS markets, occupying the third position in Europe in terms of mobile broadband penetration. Besides, “Portugal invested in telecommunications in counter cycle with most European countries in a challenging economic climate”.
Therefore, this proposal from Anacom, according to the communiqué, “puts seriously at risk the investment made on new generation mobile networks, namely the adoption of LTE technology”. “Furthermore, considering the weight of spectrum cost in ARPU (average revenues per user), Portugal Telecom is still one of the European countries with highest spectrum costs, something that Anacom has not adjusted by the same criteria of the European benchmark”, says the communiqué.
PT’s mobile arm stressed the fact that Portugal currently has mobile call prices circa 14% below the European average and Anacom’s proposal will “seriously damage the operators’ capacity of investment, innovation and service development in the mobile sector”.
“TMN thinks that being at the forefront of the most aggressive regulators in price reductions of mobile terminations does not constitute an advantage that compensates for the damages caused by this proposal to the country, to consumers and to mobile operators”, informs the communiqué. The positions of the regulators from countries such as Spain, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Greece, which have opted for “much smoother reductions”, are added as a benchmark.
It is worth mentioning that “Anacom also wants the new prices to be applied retroactively, which far from representing a consumer benefit, is illegal”.
To conclude, “PT believes that the Portuguese regulator will take into account the arguments presented in this public consultation and will revise substantially its proposal both in terms of values and of period of adjustment, trying to find the right balance between EU recommendations and the interest of the sector in Portugal, which needs to bet strongly on innovation so that the country may create a structural competitive advantage to attract more investment and promote job creation”.