Colombia: SIC fines mobile operators over product bundling

Colombia’s Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) has spoken out against leading mobile operators Tigo, Movistar and Claro, for acting against the country’s competition rules, which prohibit the imposition of bundles or conditions to benefit plans. In response, the country’s competition watchdog SIC has fined the companies for a total of over $9 bn pesos (approximately $3 million USD).

The companies are accused of offering free mobile equipment, conditional on the purchase of a minimum-duration contract, as well as a series of terms of use which could lead to the loss of the original benefit.

The CRC considered that, by preventing the user from terminating their service contracts, or from modifying the plan by opting for a lower value or switching from post-payment to pre-paid services under penalty of losing the ‘free’ mobile equipment, the companies had violated the CRC’s 2014 ruling which eliminated these and other restrictions.

Full Content: El País

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