Portuguese watchdog given green light to act on fibre pricing

Portuguese regulator ANACOM has secured a mandate from the country’s government to regulate the wholesale prices charged by Fibroglobal.

ANACOM is to reduce the prices charged by the fibre operator by between 24% and 55%, based on a recommendation that followed its analysis of the prices charged for wholesale offers for rural high-speed networks.

ANACOM has given Fibroglobal a deadline of 15 working days to cut its prices.

ANACOM’s analysis concluded that the prices charged by Fibroglobal are much higher than those charged by DSTelecom, which operates high-speed rural networks in Alemtejo, Algarve and the northern part of Portugal. Fibroglobal operates networks in the central part of the country and the Azores.

ANACOM called on the government to mandate a price reduction on Fibroglobal last month following complaints by service providers NOS and Vodafone. The pair had alleged that Fibroglobal’s offering does not allow them to offer retail triple-play services profitably.They also claimed that the fibre provider, which was created in 2010 with the help of public funds, discriminated in favour of Altice-owned PT Telecom/Meo.