Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes, Anatel) has issued a proposal regarding overhauls to the General Competition Targets Plan (Plano Geral de Metas de Competicao, PGMC). The PGMC was first approved through Resolution No. 600 in November 2012, and updated by Resolution No. 694 in July 2018. The Plan plays a fundamental role in establishing guidelines and goals that aim to foster competition in the telecoms market.
Reflecting changes in the wider telecoms market, the obligation to offer wholesale access to copper networks is no longer considered a relevant market with the PGMC. New areas will come under focus, however, including industrial network exploitation (exploracao industrial de rede, EIR) and the MVNO sector. In terms of the former, mobile operators with Significant Market Power (SMP) will be prohibited from entering into EIR/RAN-sharing agreements involving the 2.3GHz and 3.5GHz band in cities that are home to up to 100,000 inhabitants until 31 December 2030.
In terms of MVNO access, meanwhile, mobile operators designated as having SMP must make public price and access offers for both authorised MVNOs and accredited MVNOs. SMP operators will be prohibited from entering into exclusivity contracts, while all pricing determinations must use retail-minus methodology, with a minimum discount of 25%. SMP operators will also be prohibited from charging monthly fees for M2M/IoT devices.
The consultation is open for 60 days.
