Survey: Mobile market not competitive

 A survey has indicated that wholesale mobile access and call origination (MACO) market was not competitive given that Digicel had the significant market power (SMP).

Indications were that;

• Digicel had a position of SMP in downstream retail mobile services market; 
• Digicel was integrated and has the largest mobile network in terms of coverage; 
• Digicel controlled infrastructure that was not easily duplicated at a network level useful for provision of wholesale services; and,
• There was an absence of any countervailing buying power by other mobile networks 

Last June, NICTA held a public inquiry to examine whether certain wholesale mobile telecommunications services should be recommended to the responsible minister for declaration. 

In its inquiry report on declaration of certain wholesale mobile services, NICTA concluded that there was currently no wholesale supply of MACO services beyond self-supply by three integrated mobile network operators (BMobile, Digicel and Telikom) to their respective downstream operations. 

It was noted that given its SMP and its control of the largest mobile network infrastructure in PNG, Digicel had the ability to strengthen unfairly its position in downstream retail mobile services market by denying access (either outright or through delaying tactics) to wholesale MACO services to other licensees that compete against Digicel in retail mobile services market.

This was particularly in relation to those geographic areas where demand for retail mobile services was very limited or fragile and it thus may be uneconomical for a MNO to duplicate certain mobile network infrastructure. This can have the effect of reinforcing a first mover advantage in favour of Digicel and impeding development of competition in retail mobile services market.