SUVA, Fiji (Fijilive, June 4, 2010) – Fiji's Commerce Commission has
decided to regulate the price of bandwidth sourced from the Fiji
International Telecommunications Limited (FINTEL),effectively bringing
about a reduction in internet charges. Commission chairman Dr Mahendra
Reddy today announced that prices will decrease by as much as 61
percent in the next two years with a reduction of 34.6 percent from
next month.
The regulation will also ensure operators have direct access to the Southern
Cross Cable Network. Reddy said the commission undertook a study on
March 4 to examine if FINTEL had Substantial Market Power (SMP) in
relation to control of Fiji's Landing Station.
"We found that FINTEL had Substantial Market Power in relation to its
control of the Landing Station," he said.
"We concluded such SMP over the Landing Station could be detrimental for the
country as demonstrated by prevailing high bandwidth price offered to
operators obtaining bandwidth from FINTEL."
[PIR editor's note: Fiji International Telecommunications Limited
(FINTEL) is a private company licensed by the Fiji government to
provide Fiji's international telecommunications. The company is
jointly owned by the Government of Fiji (51 percent) and Cable and
Wireless Communications (www.cwc.com) of UK (49 percent).] Reddy said
with the prices of wholesale bandwidth being regulated, the commission
expects retail price to get regulated automatically by an average of
34 percent to benefit the end users. "We want the retail rates to go
down as well and if this does not happen, it means the Internet
Service Providers are keeping the money," he said. He added the
commission will be coming down hard on ISPs who do this.
Source: Pacific Islands Report briefs for Monday, June 7, 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment