Authorities to probe mobile operators due to price surge in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan’s Agency for Protection and Development of Competition has initiated an investigation against mobile operators accused of price fixing, as their prices surged within the range of 7.7% to 57.3%.
What happened? Specialists from the antimonopoly agency have analyzed tariff plans of mobile operators and their price dynamics, stating that prices for telecommunication services increased within the range of 7.7% to 57.3% this year.
«Over the period from May to July, mobile operators gradually increased the cost of services in more than 30 tariff plans with monthly fees,» the agency said in a statement.
Who is under scrutiny? The Antimonopoly agency has launched an investigation against deliberate and repetitive anti-competitive practices.
«The investigation has been launched against Kcell, JSC, MT-C, LLP (Tele2/Altel), and Kar-Tel, LLP (Beeline) under Article 170 of the Commercial Code, which prohibits anti-competitive practices concerted by market participants,» the agency said.
Earlier this year, the agency already warned the mobile operators about wrongdoing. The antimonopoly agency said it noticed signs of concerted anti-competitive actions when the operators changed the cost of one minute of a call and one SMS.
«Concerning this, we have sent official notifications to all the mobile operators, demanding they stop the identified violations through reasonable price decreases,» the agency said in a statement.
According to the current rules for rendering mobile communication services, an operator is allowed to change its basic tariff plan (a tariff without a subscription fee) only once a year. An operator should form all other commercial tariff plans on its own. However, if an operator changes such a tariff in terms of cost or provided services, it must notify its customers 30 days in advance via SMS.
Mobile operators increased prices for their services after Bagdat Musin, the minister of digital development, innovations, and aerospace industry, said that Astana residents could enjoy cheap mobile internet. In particular, the antimonopoly agency noticed signs of concerted actions by Beeline, Kcell, and Tele2. According to Bolat Sambetov, deputy head of the agency, price increases among mobile operators ranged from 8% to 50% depending on tariff plans. He also highlighted that once the investigation is completed, it will be clear whether the price increase was reasonable or not.
In late July, Musin commented on multiple complaints of «horrendous» internet quality in Astana, saying that the city «has moved up by 35 notches and is ahead of 35 cities, including Tokyo,» in the international rating of Speedtest.
