Colombia’s Communications Regulatory Commission (Comision de Regulacion de Comunicaciones, CRC) is facing growing calls to recognise the dominant market position of America Movil (AM)-backed Claro, which accounted for 29.887 million wireless subscribers at 31 March 2019 – roughly as many as its four domestic mobile network operator (MNO) rivals combined.
Speaking at a regulatory hearing, representatives from Tigo, Movistar and Avantel argued that the lack of regulatory intervention is impacting on market conditions. Ignacio Roman, president of Avantel, told the regulatory officials: ‘In five years there will be an impoverishment of the country’s competitive situation. If this continues, we will probably have only one operator that will increase prices and decrease the quality of the telecommunications sector, thus affecting user fees.’
For its part, Claro has argued that its rivals are targeting it as a way of justifying their lack of investment in the country.