VietNamNet Bridge – The three mobile network operators dominating the telecom market, namely VinaPhone, MobiFone and Viettel, have unanimously planned to raise the international incoming call charges to UScent8.1.

The three dominant mobile network operators have the same voice that the currently applied UScent6.1 per minute fee is lower than that in the other regional countries. They all have proposed the Ministry of Information and Communication to raise the fee to UScent8.1, which is believed to bring $12 million more in turnover to Vietnamese enterprises.

This is the second time the three drew up and implemented the same plan at the same time.

Just some months ago, they unanimously raised the 3G service fee by 40 percent since October 16, 2013.

In the latest move, the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group (VNPT), the governing body of VinaPhone and MobiFone, has proposed to raise the international incoming call charges to UScent8.1 to make it equal to the regional level.

Another company has also suggested applying the fee for the next five years.

The military telco also plans to raise the fee to UScent8.1, commencing from February 2014.

Dr. Le Dang Doanh, a well-known economist, said one would not find any reason behind the unanimous price increase, except the fact that the three mobile network operators have reached a consensus on the price increase.

However, he said this seemingly goes contrary to the competition law.

“Under the law, if one business raises the selling prices, I would try to lower the prices to attract customers. But in this case, the sellers all agree on the price increase,” Doanh said.

“The matter needs a thorough consideration. This is really abnormal,” Doanh added.

The doubts about the collusion of the three mobile network operators, which was considered a behavior of violating the Competition Law, were once raised when the operators raised 3G service fees.

The Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai then requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Competition Administration Department to take a probe to find out if the three companies colluded to raise the market prices.

The department later concluded that the three companies did not violate the competition law. However, the conclusion could not satisfy the public. Analysts also think that it is really a doubtful coincidence that the three mobile network operators wanted the same thing and at the same time.

Meanwhile, Doanh said frankly that if the three companies all did the same thing together, this means that they colluded with each other to raise the market prices, thus putting difficulties on consumers.

Regarding the latest move on attempting to raise the international incoming call charges, analysts said it is unreasonable for Vietnamese telecom groups to raise the charges just to offset the loss caused by the 20 percent decrease in the capacity.

The 20 percent capacity decrease in international incoming calls has been blamed on the illicit international call capacity increase. Meanwhile, the higher popularity of OTT (over the top) apps, which allow people to communicate free of charge, has also led to the fall.

Doanh has commented that telcos should think of taking drastic measures to reduce the illicit international call capacity instead of raising the selling price to offset the lost profits.

Dat Viet