The Communications Commission of Georgia will conduct a market analysis regarding the tariff change announced by "Magti" and "Silknet" last week. The commission notes that the market analysis will show if the rates offered by mobile operators in Georgia are in line with the rates of European countries. According to the Communications Commission, after the research, they will better assess how adequate prices the companies have today.
At the end of last week, both "Magti" and "Silknet" increased consumer tariffs. The change mainly affected the prices of unlimited internet.
"Communications Commission monitors changes in the conditions of services offered to the market by telecommunication service providers and analyzes market dynamics. In addition, if necessary, the Commission applies all measures defined by law to protect the interests of consumers.
The commission will also observe the changes in tariffs announced last week by Magticom LLC and Silknet and will take appropriate actions within the scope of its authority. In particular, the commission considers it appropriate at this stage to conduct a comparative analysis of the tariffs offered by telecom operators in Georgia with the existing tariffs in European countries, the so-called benchmarking study. Benchmarking research involves comparing the prices of the respective consumer baskets of mobile and fixed services over the same period of time. The results of the research will give the Commission the opportunity to assess the adequacy of the prices in the market in relation to the conditions offered and the affordability of consumer tariffs compared to European countries.
The Communications Commission suspended the tariff change announced on February 14, 2019 by the Magticom company. Later, by the decision of June 26, 2020, the cancellation of the 25 GEL unlimited package was completely restricted, since according to the research conducted by the commission, there was no need to cancel or increase the price of the said package. According to the same decision, persons with significant market power no longer had the right to change tariffs without prior agreement with the Commission. Later, based on the appeal of the operators, in order to encourage investments in the next generation network and taking into account the post-pandemic macroeconomic factors, the Commission returned the tariff flexibility to them.
Currently, the Communications Commission, as mentioned above, will study the issue and, based on the results of the benchmarking research report, will take appropriate measures," the Communications Commission said.
The tariff change of "Magti" and "Silknet" is within 5%-25% depending on the services.
