Bahrain: TRA Issues Notices to Batelco and Viva for Implementing Anti-competitive Prices for International Calls which Harm Consumer Interests
Type
E-journal
Date
6 Sep 2011
Jurisdiction
Bahrain
Taxonomy
Consumer Protection, Supply of Services, Telecommunications, Agreements, Enforcement of Competition Law
Copyright
LexisNexis
Analysis
Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has completed investigations into complaints received from a group of licensed operators that Batelco and Viva had launched anti-competitive prices for mobile calls to certain international destinations which has prevented a fair opportunity being provided to all and harmed competition in Bahrain's telecommunications sector
The TRA issued separate notices on the 23 August 2011 to both operators under the Telecommunications Law of the Kingdom of Bahrain based upon its investigation.
The notices allege that the operators' pricing constituted an abuse of dominance in the international mobile telecommunications market, and breached the conditions of competition provided for by the Law.
The TRA believes that such pricing destroys the market's forces and hinders competition between operators by reducing the opportunities for fair competition in the market, and harms consumer interests in the long run.