Brazil: Anatel plans to reduce interconnection rates

28 April 2004 – According to a Business News Americas report, Anatel, Brazil's telecommunications regulator, plans to make changes to interconnection charges by the middle of the year in order to move those tariffs down to world averages, Anatel's private services director Jarbas Valente said.

"Over the long-term, the regulations in the country should reduce tariffs to a world average or to a level below that," Valente said.

The new interconnection model will factor in operator's costs, using different tariffs for each operator, and will distinguish between more types of interconnection.

"We won't look at isolated prices, but at the network as a whole," Valente said, referring to how Anatel plans to determine how operators will perform interconnection billing.

The new model will address both wireline and wireless interconnection. In July, wireless operators will begin negotiating their interconnection rates. Anatel’s new model could force operators to negotiate separately for each type of interconnection.

The global trend to increased regulation of interconnection is firmly underway. With increased market liberalisation and the rise of a competitive mobile sector in many countries, interconnection has become a significant source of revenue and consequently a contentious issue for many telecom providers. Interconnection rules set by an independent regulator are vital to ensure dominant players do not thwart competitors through high interconnection charges.

Intelecon Research & Consultancy Ltd. 28/04/2004

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