A complaint from the state run telecommunications company in Costa Rica has been dismissed after it argued that its competitors Claro and Movistar were using monopolistic practices in their services for international voice and data roaming.
The Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel) and the Commission to Promote Competition (COPROCOM) decided not to recommend any sanction against alleged monopolistic practices by Movistar and Claro, annulling the suit filed in May 2015 by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE).
The Disputes Tribunal has ordered a halt, temporarily, of the $4 million fine imposed on the Costa Rican Electricity Institute for engaging in monopolistic practices.
The fine imposed by the Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel) has been temporarily suspended, confirmed the Regulation director of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) to Crhoy.com .
The state-run telecom company ICE will pay $4 million for abusing its market power to bar entry to or cause the exit of other operators.
From a statement issued by the Superintendent of Telecommunications of Costa Rica (Sutel):
- Offenders must pay a fine of 0.58% of their gross income on mobile phones obtained during the preceding fiscal period because of the anti-competitive practice.
The private sector is warning that the new law contains technical deficiencies and could harm free competition by creating different conditions for companies in the sector.
The Union of Cable Television Operators is opposing the rapid adoption of the Law on Control of Mobile Telecommunications in Prison Centers, because of a lack of consensus and consultation with the sector, the fact that it contains technical and legal gaps and could harm domestic firms through the generation of privileges and monopolies under the rule .
Movistar's appeal accusing the ICE of concentration of 2.6 Ghz spectrum and impeding it from using the 4G network until the law suit was resolved, has been rejected.
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad may continue marketing cellular services for its 4G network after the Administrative Court rejected an appeal by its competitor Movistar.
In Costa Rica the Commission to Promote Competition has fined Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia and Continental Continex for "obviously anticompetitive conduct."
Faced with a complaint lodged by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the Commission to Promote Competition (COPROCOM) at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, fined each company $236 thousand, for "obviously anticompetitive conduct."
The Superintendency for Competition in El Salvador has sanctioned four telephone companies for agreeing jointly to a single fee for the provision of one of their services.
The Board (CD) of the Superintendencia de Competencia (SC) fined Telemóvil, Telefonica, Digicel and Intelfon a total of $1,215,497.94 for agreeing to jointly fix the rate of $ 0.21 plus VAT per minute for calls from the traditional local phone network to a mobile phone.
The Superintendency of Telecommunications in Costa Rica has rejected objections raised by Telefónica over an interconnection agreement between Claro and the ICE.
Overruling the complaints, the regulator has given the green light for the interconnection between the Ice and Claro.
"The Sutel refuted the five legal appeals and also pointed out that Telefónica was challenging clauses that were identical to those contained in its agreement with the ICE.
Between the Spanish company and other players in the market there are 30 objections to the agreement between the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad and America Movil's Claro.
Among the questionable items under review by the Telecommunications Authority is the possibility that confidentiality agreements could be made and alleged monopolistic practices.
The Costa Rican regulator has prevented telephone companies Telefónica and ICE from agreeing on tariffs for end users within a contract for interconnecting their networks.
The company Claro filed a complaint to the Superindendency of Telecommunications (Sutel), which stated that the access and interconnection agreement signed between the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and Telefónica, contained clauses where both companies agreed not to charge prices below the cost of services provided, considering the interconnection charges as a cost common to both.
At the start of privatisation of the cellular market in Costa Rica, the Mexican company Claro is questioning agreements between the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and the Spanish run Telefónica.
The complaint filed by Claro to the Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel) indicates that in the access and interconnection agreement signed between the ICE and Telefonica, there are clauses where both companies are committed to not charging prices below the cost of services rendered, considering interconnection charges as a common expense to both parties.
Claro has filed an appeal with the Costa Rican Superintendency of Telecomunitions denouncing the agreement.
The complaint filed by Claro asks the regulator to eliminate several articles of the agreement, which has already been signed, on the grounds that they contain monopolistic practices "in violation of the competitive regime."
An article in Nacion.com reports, "Regard this issue, Telefónica said that the agreement was negotiated within the appropriate legal framework, which it respected totally. He added that the terms are equal to those already signed by other companies and which have not been challenged. "