A PYMNTS Company

Chile: Virgin Mobile denounces competitors for unfair practices

By  |  August 31, 2015

Virgin Mobile’s new Chilean venture has filed a complaint with Chile’s competition authorities, accusing incumbents Claro, Entel, Falabella and WOM of engaging in product bundling of mobile devices and contracts, which violates the rules established by the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    Virgin’s Chile boss, Juan Antonio Etcheverry, said that these contracts, although signed through retail vendors, should “be the responsibility of operators”, who are forbidden from “bundling a service contract with the sale of devices.”

    Mr. Etcheverry criticised what he considered a “rather slow” response from the Telecommunications authorities to these episodes, which he insisted represent effective barriers to any real competition. Chile’s competition and economic watchdog, the FNE, recently admitted to having begun an investigation into the mobile phone sale market, in order to determine the presence of any restrictions or barriers to competition.

    Source: Telesemana

    Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.