El Salvador: Regulator sets conditions on sale of TV Caribeña to Millicom

El Salvador’s Superintendence for Competition, the local market regulator, has announced a set of conditions that must be fulfilled before Tigo (Millicom) can complete the purchase of cable TV provider Caribbean, in an operation carried out through Tigo subsidiary Telemóvil.
 
The conditions include the mandatory deployment of the hybrid fiber network (HFC), as Tigo has done in other parts of the country, in order to improve the offer of pay-TV services and the quality of services in the eastern part of the country. In addition, Tigo will not be allowed to prevent users who so wish from switching TV providers in the future and will not be able to distribute any type of packaged service that entails a competitive advantage of its own products.
 
The company must also inform Caribbean customers of this operation directly, as well as avoid raising prices or reducing standing offers without justification. The regulator will monitor the company’s compliance with these conditions, as the operation could cause negative effects on competition.
 
“The technical analysis developed identified that the transaction carries the risk of possible unilateral effects in the subscription television markets, because it would lead to the departure of a major competitor and the strengthening of the dominant position of Telemóvil,” said the competition authority.