No decision on telco market power

www.fijitimes.com - Friday, October 30, 2009

THE Commerce Commission has not made any decision yet on the substantial market power for interconnection services.

Commission chairman Mahendra Reddy said the review on the issue started in May but no decision had been made.

Any changes in the interconnection rates between telecommunication providers could influence the charges that customers face for using such services, he said.

"It takes about eight months for the review and we're more than half way through in terms of doing a substantial market power study," he said.

"We are about to conclude on that. If we find there is substantial market power then we will have to regulate the interconnection rate."

He made the comment at the East Asia and Pacific Infrastructure Regulatory Forum at the Holiday Inn in Suva yesterday.

In July, Mr Reddy said the commission was receiving submissions online through their website and via email from various stakeholders asking the commission to regulate the interconnection rates between the telecommunication providers.

Some were claiming Telecom, Fintel and Vodafone were dominating the market despite deregulation of the industry last year.

Others had expressed major concerns over the level of services provided through telecommunications in Fiji.