Brazil's justice ministry has started an investigation into possible anti-competitive practices at the leading mobile operators Vivo, Claro, TIM and Oi. The companies together control over 95 percent of mobile users in Brazil. They are accused of setting interconnection rates that prevent the successful entry of smaller operators on the market. In addition to the price squeeze, the competition authorities found evidence of possible collusion between Vivo, TIM and Claro to set interconnection rates. The ministry has also asked market regulator Anatel to develop a cost-based model for determining the termination rates. The investigation is headed by the economics secretariat at the ministry, SDE, with the help of the competition authority DPDE.

Source:Telecompaper