Competition Commission invites the public to comment on myT packages

Following an investigation initiated on the 21st February 2011, the Competition Commission of Mauritius (CCM) issued a press release to invite members of the public to, I quote :

“[…]comments or representations from members of the public to gather further information and evidence on the concerns which may or may not lead to an eventual finding of breach of the Competition Act. […]”

An interesting statement by the Executive Director of the CCM, Dr Sean Ennis :

“The My.T package mixes together broadband internet – a product in which MT has a monopoly – with products such as international calls and TV services, in which it competes with other companies. Such packages might be in the interests of vigorous competition and convenient for customers. But if customers are unduly influenced towards buying TV services from MT, just because of its broadband monopoly,that could damage competition in those markets.“

Published on  the 24th October 2011, the date limit has been set to the 4th november 2011.

In my opinion, the commission has granted too little time for this exercise. During this time period 24th October-4th November 2011, no consideration has been given to the 3 public holidays and a weekend, thus only 7  working days. It should be the case but nevertheless, I will try to call them to confirm if submissions can be made via email addresses. You will find related details to this investigation on this page.

Another fact : As of today, I noticed the related article only on l’express (online) and The Independent. Other newspapers have not mentioned anything yet, unless I have not come across them. I expect that when official communiques will be finally published on all newspapers, that will offer even a shorter period of time for people to react.

On a side note, I personally expected some investigation about the no-price-decrease/double-speed applicable to the 512Kbps myT package . Let me remind you that many people felt outraged when Mauritius Telecom decided NOT to grant the price decrease (announced by the government) or an equivalent double-speed to the portion of customers who still have the 512kbps MyT package. You can read related Mauritius Telecom and MyT articles in this section.

Anyway, if you feel that you can contribute to this investigation, hurry up!

btw, Happy Divali to all 🙂