ANACOM has completed an analysis of the prices of wholesale offers supported by rural high-speed networks, concluding that the prices charged by Fibroglobal are very high; it has therefore made a proposal to the Government for a reduction in the prices charged by Fibroglobal of between 24% and 55%, depending on the type of access.
In its analysis, ANACOM also looked at the wholesale offer prices of DSTelecom (which operates the rural high-speed network in the North of Portugal, Alentejo and Algarve), and concluded that the prices charged by Fibroglobal (Centre Area of Portugal and Azores) are substantially higher.
Furthermore, this situation has given rise to complaints from NOS and Vodafone to ANACOM, which consider that Fibroglobal's offer does not allow them profitability from the offer of triple-play services in the retail market, particularly in the residential segment. As regards DST, ANACOM has not received any complaints from operators using the company's network indicating discriminatory or unreasonable pricing, and there were different operators subscribing to DST's offer.
In accordance with the agreements entered into with Fibroglobal and DST, the existence of over-financing must be verified every 5 years over the contract’s duration. Since this time limit has expired, ANACOM made a proposal to the Government for the request of information so that the situation can be evaluated. In situations of over-financing, the reimbursement mechanism will be activated.
Under the terms of the contracts, the allocation of public funding constitutes over-financing where profits from operating the high-speed network exceeds the average recorded in the sector.
ANACOM also submitted a set of information and questions about Fibroglobal to Autoridade da Concorrência (Competition Authority) for analysis. This initiative is undertaken under the duty of cooperation in matters relating to the application of the legal regime governing competition in the electronic communications sector and in the context of the obligation to report situations as may be classified as restricting competition.
