OREANDA-NEWS. April 09, 2014. Turkey’s competition authorityorganized the second meeting of the International Roaming Working Group in Istanbul (Turkey), which focused on the situation on the market of international roaming telecommunications.

Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia), Anatoly Golonolzin, and the Chief Coordinator of Turkey’s competition authority, Ali Demiroz, acted as moderators.

Representatives of the competition authorities of Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority of the Republic of Turkey, Non-Profit Partnership for Competition Support in the CIS, the General Consulate of the Russian Federation in Istanbul, and the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Turkey took part in the meeting of the Working Group.

In his welcoming address, Ali Demiroz emphasized the importance of telecommunications for the countries – members of the Working Group in strengthening economic-and-social conditions of cooperation between our countries.

Next, Anatoly Golonolzin delivered a report where he discussed in detail pricing specifics on the market of international telecommunications, the findings of an investigation of cellular operators, carried out in 2010 by the antimonopoly bodies of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan as part of the efforts of ICAP Headquarters on Joint Investigations of Antimonopoly Violations.

The results of the investigation completed in 2010 by Russian and Kazakh antimonopoly authorities were also presented by MiraTuyakbaeva, Director of the Department of Analysis of Transport, Communications and Agriculture Complex, of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Competition Protection (ARKCP). As a result of the investigations and continued efforts of ARKCP, the rates in Kazakhstan went down and the billing increment decreased, which is more advantageous for retail consumers.

Anatoly Golonolzin pointed out that as a consequence of the investigation operators had agreed to reduce the rates in inter-operator agreements between themselves and with other CIS operators. In the past three years, the voice over rates reduced by up to 9 times, SMS – by threefold, and data transmission – by 44 times.

Reducing the rates for roaming telecommunications services led to a manifold increase of the overall number of outgoing and incoming calls, SMS-messages, and a growth of data transmission traffic. For instance, the volume of services increased on average: voice over – twofold, SMS-messages – by 1.44 times, and Internet data transmission - by 10 times. The share of the CIS in the overall volume of international roaming services went up by 40%. In total, the operators’ income increased by 20%.

The efforts of CIS antimonopoly bodies were approved by the Council of the Heads of the Governments of the CIS member-states.

Anatoly Golonolzin also outlined the problems on the cross-border market of Turkey and the CIS; including unreasonably high rates for roaming services, that infringe consumer interests. For example, today’s price per minute is 60-70 RUB for the persons that are present in another state and use services of a domestic operator. This situation emerged because roaming partners reciprocally fix unreasonably high inter-operator rates, applying which generate over 80% profit, while the rates constitute 70-120% of the subscriber charge tariff.

Elena Zaeva, Deputy Head of FAS Department for Control over Transport and Communications, discussed possible regulatory mechanisms and emphasized that the most efficient approach to tariff reduction is coordinated actions of competition authorities and telecommunications regulators. Such cooperation must encourage development of competition on the market and protect the interests of both operators and subscribers.

Representatives of Non-Profit Partnership for Competition Support in the CIS, Andrey Rego and Ivan Zaitsev, confirmed that direct tariff regulation per se is less efficient that antimonopoly control. Also, direct price regulation of inter-operator rates as well as subscriber prices for voice over, SMS and roaming data transmission is possible only under supranational tariff regulation. Such regulation, for instance, is applied in the European Union (the EU). This experience, however, is not applicable in other regions of the world. Due to a restricted price level in the European Union, prices increase for the subscribers travelling outside the EU or entering the EU.

Elena Zaeva mentioned a successful experience of reaching arrangements between Malaysia and Singapore that announced agreements with their operators on a considerable reduction of the roaming rates for voice over and SMS in the two countries. Australia and New Zealand also undertake intensive efforts to reduce roaming rates.

Experts of Turkey’s competition authority, Umit Nevruz Ozdemir and Nur Seda Kokturk, named Russia among the countries with the highest volume of international traffic, along with Germany, Saudi Arabia, the UK and Syria. Tourism and business-interests predetermine such a high level of international traffic between Russia and Turkey.

Experts of Turkish antimonopoly body also discussed a sustainable growth of mobile telecommunications sector in Turkey, represented by three big players (Turkcell, Vodafone and Avea), and a falling scope of services in the landline segment, where a single operator is present - Turk Telekom.

Representatives of Turkey’s competition authority also shared experience of antimonopoly investigations on the market of international roaming.

Upon exchanging information, the meeting participants discussed possible solutions on reducing the rates for roaming services.

Summing up the second meeting of the Working Group, participants made the following decisions:

- To appoint contact persons in each agency – a participant of the Working Group to exercise prompt cooperation within the Working Group

- Competition authorities of the CIS and Turkey, jointly with communications regulators, will carry out a detailed analysis of the situation. It will comprise assessment of the position of operators on the market, the level of prices in inter-operator settlements between operators – residents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey, the level of subscriber roaming tariffs used when subscribers from Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey are present in those countries in comparison with prices for communications services in the domestic region, the volume of roaming communications services between the CIS and Turkey.

Participants of the Roaming Working Group agreed to exchange the survey findings and other necessary information during the period until the third meeting in order to draw proposals, and discuss them at the third meeting and find a mutually acceptable solution on the roaming situation.

Reference:

Roaming Working Group was formed upon an initiative of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) and Turkey’s competition authority. The first WG meeting was in September 2012 in Kazan (Russia) under the framework of “Competition Day in Russia” Annual International Conference. Today, along with Russia and Turkey, the Working Group comprises competition authorities of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

The next session of the Roaming Working Group will take place in September 2014 in St Petersburg as part of “Competition Day in Russia” Annual International Conference.