Unifying their pricing systems, major mobile operators MTN-Irancell and Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran (MCI) have increased rates of basic phone services.
Irrespective of which operator you have a subscription with, making a phone call on a cellphone costs 599 rials per minute for users with prepaid subscription and 899 rials for those who have pay-as-you-go plan, ICTNA reported.
The steepest price hike, 80%, was announced by Irancell which until recently charged customers with prepaid subscriptions 333 rials/minute.
In a statement published on the MCI website, the company said the “move aims to simplify the [firm’s] billing system making the pricing mechanism more transparent and easier for consumers to understand.”
Truth be told, the giant operator needs (must be compelled) to explain how and why jacking up rates up to 34%, depending on the service, would make the billing system “more transparent”.
While MCI has jacked up the cost of making a phone call for its subscribers across the board, it has been generous enough to cut the cost of contacting subscribers of other mobile operators by 4%.
In the statement MCI claims that the price hike is within legal boundaries and in line with guidelines issued by Iran’s Communication Regulatory Authority.
Furthermore, hoping to cushion the blow to its customer base, MCI has announced that it is offering special packages for intra-network communications, lowering the rates a tad for its subscribers to contact other MCI users. For details on the special packages users need to dial *10*337# on their handsets.
By the time this paper went to print Irancell had not issued a statement to explain the move.
Many could see the two operators’ decision to unify rates anticompetitive, a sort of collusion and even a textbook example of price fixing. The communications ombudsman and the ICT Ministry are yet to comment.
>Another Example
Earlier this month, in another simultaneous move Irancell and MCI revised their Internet service pricing procedures making them a bit costlier.
Operators the past usually offered special packages which enabled users to access the Internet at relatively low rates. Now they have gotten rid of the affordable packages in a manner that compels users to purchase more expensive services, which in many cases means price jumps of over and above 10%.
Currently one of the affordable monthly Internet plans offered by Irancell costs 295,000 rials ($2.13). Prior to the introduction of the revised pricing procedures, a similar package used to cost less than $2.
While widely criticized, the price hikes are seemingly within the law. Two years ago the CRA introduced a price cap system for mobile operators, which says Internet services for prepaid SIMs and pay-as-you-go subscribers cannot be priced above 419,430 rials ($3.04) and 629,145 rials ($4.56) per gigabyte. This means operators can increase prices further.
