Author: Melsena Dangli
It doesn't matter if you are a subscriber Vodafone, ALBtelecom apo ONE - again every month you have to pay at least 10 thousand old lek to have internet on your mobile phone and to continue communication through SMSand minutes.
The three mobile companies operating in the Albanian market, which are supposed to be in competition with each other, seem to agree when it comes to increasing the rate of offers.
ACQJ's monitoring shows that the prices of mobile companies increased at the beginning of February by 200 Lek according to the dates, on January 30 for ALBtelecom, February 5 for Telecom and February 11 for Vodafone.
The increase in the price of monthly packages by all three mobile operators by 200 lek and the increase in the cost of recharge from 100 to 200 lek brought the reaction of consumers and the media and then the intervention of the Competition Authority, which took the decision to restore the initial fees.
In February 2020, the Competition Commission under the Competition Authority decided to immediately stop the application of the new standard 30-day prepaid packages for enterprises Vodafone Albania, Telecom Albania and ALBtelecom.
According to INSTAT, the average salary in Albania is 400 euros, the lowest of all countries in the region. The highest is in Montenegro (765 euros), Serbia (644 euros), North Macedonia (591 euros) and the penultimate Kosovo (528 euros). These figures also reinforce the calculations of the International Monetary Fund, which rank Albania as the country with the lowest average monthly salary in the Balkan region. But, if we compare the rates of the offers with the countries of the region, it turns out that: the citizens of Kosovo spend on average 5 euros per month, the citizens of North Macedonia 7 euros, the citizens of Montenegro 6 euros and the citizens of Serbia about 10 euros.
Given that mobile phone offers are a constant expense, which worries citizens, ACQJ has made an observation on the offers of three mobile companies operating in the Albanian market, ALBtelecom, ONE and Vodafone.
In all three companies, standard daily packages cost 150 ALL, while standard weekly packages cost 500 ALL. 4 standard monthly packages ALBtelecom they cost 900, 1300, 1500 and 2100 ALL. 4 odd standard packages ONE they cost 1000, 1400, 1600 and 2200 ALL. Standard packages Vodafone they cost 1000, 1400, 1700 and 2200 ALL.
The observation shows that the three mobile companies operate in the market with almost the same prices that differ by 100 ALL.
Is this an indication that ALBtelecom, Telecom (ONE) and Vodafone are they a monopoly in the market of mobile companies and follow anti-competitive practices?
We have asked the Competition Authority if there have been complaints about these practices.
According to the CA, anti-competitive behavior focused on the violation of articles 4 (Prohibited tacit agreements) and 9 (Abuse of a dominant position in the market) of law no. 9121, dated 28.07.2003 "On the Protection of Competition", amended.
Since the offers and prices offered by all three mobile companies are almost the same, they contradict what it says Margrethe Vestager, the Commissioner for Competition: "I think that fair competition is not only one of the foundations of the European Union, but also of free trade".
Based on the guide of the European Commission on Sensitive Power in the Market (May 2018) it results that the mobile retail market has competition problems, where Vodafone Albania there are market shares above 50% for many indicators and the application of tariffs is observed in the market, which negatively affect the sustainability of competition between operators.
Operator exit from the market Plus Communication changed the structure of the market since January 1, 2018 from 4 (four) to 3 (three) operators following the upward trend of the market concentration index and moreover the two entrepreneurs with the largest share in the market have significantly increased their competitive capacities by acquiring 50% by 50% of the rights to use the frequencies it owned in use, deepening the comparative advantage of the first entrants to the market.
According to an analysis carried out by AKEP, in addition to financial, technical and legal-procedural barriers to entering the market, the exit from the market of the last entrant to the market, Plus Communication (which offered lower rates than the other 3 operators), is a significant barrier for any new market entrant. Under these conditions, it is difficult for new entries to occur without regulatory intervention, after about nine years Plus Communication was the last entry into the market and already after the transfer of frequencies to the two entrepreneurs, Vodafone and Telecom Albania, the last entrant has exited the market and the market structure has changed towards increased concentration and dominance of the market leader/two entrepreneurs with the largest market share.
This is another indication that the 3 mobile companies are owning the free market and other competitors are finding it difficult to penetrate and survive in the same market.
