[ad_1]
The monthly rates of the triple communication offers (television, fixed Internet and fixed voice) of the main operators – Meo, Nos and Vodafone – have risen one euro since last month. According to Anacom, the regulatory authority, between October and November 2020, the three companies “increased the monthly rates of their basic offers.”triple game“3.3% (+1 euro)”.
The price increase “appears at the same time and in the same proportion” and “is much higher than the inflation rate” and causes the lowest monthly rate of these triple offers now to approach 31 euros.
Anacom points out that since 2018 “there are no differences in monthly rates” for this type of service packages between operators.
“Simultaneously with the increase in prices, there was also a reduction in the quality of this type of offers” because the speed of to download announced by the companies went from 100 Mbps (megabit per second) to 30 Mbps, says the entity led by João Cadete de Matos.
“The changes that have occurred will potentially affect a large number of subscribers,” since the offers of triple game They are subscribed by around 1.7 million customers in Portugal, which represents around 40% of total subscribers ”, highlights Anacom.
Adding that, given the increase, the offers “already compare unfavorably with the international average”, the regulator explains that new subscribers, but also previous subscribers, are affected by the increase when they renew their contract (for example, in order to the respective loyalty periods).
This reverence from the regulator to companies comes at a time of great upheaval in the sector, with the application period for the 5G auction and with companies guaranteeing that they will try to curb demand for rules that they consider illegal and that they claim to unduly benefit potential new competitors.
The need to lower the prices of services and promote the market entry of other companies with new business models and diversified offers is precisely one of Anacom’s justifications for introducing different conditions for new operators, assuming that they will be at a competitive disadvantage. . versus the big three, which already have a built-in infrastructure and large, loyal customer bases.
“This increase in prices and degradation in the quality of the offers occurs at a time when users are especially and increasingly dependent on the supply of connectivity for professional and educational purposes”, with the return to mandatory teleworking, highlights the regulator in the note published this Monday. -market.
Likewise, it highlights that Meo and Nos “also imposed monthly fixed data traffic limits (500 GB and 600 GB, respectively), something that did not exist in the communications markets in Portugal since the beginning of the broadband offers”.
Noting that Nos “eliminated, however, the traffic limit”, Anacom affirms that it is “a substantial change in the product configuration with reference to at least the last decade”.
Anacom also points out that the fourth operator, Nowo, which has a monthly fee of triple game lower (around 24 euros), it is not an equivalent alternative, since it does not have the same coverage of the territory.
