The user choice when hiring a mobile phone line goes through a series of factors that not only take into account the quality of the signal, but the size of the operator as well as the number of family members and friends connected to its net. The explanation? The more people in the near circle connected to the operator's network, the greater the discounts on the call price per minute as there is a differentiation between On-Net prices (calls to the same mobile operator numbers) and Off-Net prices (calls to other mobile operators).
However, the existence of this On-Net/Off-Net price differential could have a negative impact on the mobile phone market competition. This was stated by the different speakers who met at the On-Net/Off-Net Price Differential Seminar: The pending regulation in the mobile phone market in Peru that explained the case of the intervention that took place in the Colombian mobile phone market in 2012, among other cases.
"In 2007, a decree that sought to promote competition was launched. The market was opened for any operator to provide any service without distinction," said Juan Pablo Vásquez, coordinator of market regulation at the Communications Regulatory Commission of Colombia, who also commented that this decree came with other complementary interventions, such as the elimination of differences between On-Net/Off-Net prices in 2012. He also explained that these interventions helped promote greater competitiveness among existing operators and avoid concentrating on one.
Vásquez advised the Peruvian regulator to identify what is intended to be resolved in the market before any intervention takes place and to define a clear legal framework.
About the Seminar
Other experts who presented their cases and studies during the seminar were Raul Lazcano, Head of the Political, Regulatory and Studies Division of the Chilean Undersecretariat of Telecommunications; Natalia Vega, IDC Country Manager Chile & Peru; and Roberto Baltra, Executive Director of Baltra Consultores.
