Public Consultation on the Proposed Revision of the Retail Pricing Rules for Price Regulated Services Not Subject to Price Cap Regulation (Non Price Capped Services)
On 26 May 2016, URCA published for consultation its “Preliminary Determination on Proposed Revision of the Retail Pricing Rules for Price Regulated Services Not Subject to Price Cap Regulation (Non Price Capped Services)” (ECS 16/2016). The preliminary determination is accompanied by the revised Rules contained in Annex 1.
In this Preliminary Determination, URCA presents for consultation its proposed amendments of the “Regulation of Retail Prices for SMP Operators – Rules” (ECS 06/2014), also known as the Retail Pricing Rules or the Rules. The purpose of this consultation is to determine the appropriate level of regulation to maintain with respect to SMP providers of Price Regulated Services that are not subject to price cap regulation following the liberalisation of the mobile telephone market in The Bahamas. As price cap regulation applies to BTC’s fixed telephony and CBL’s broadband and Pay TV services, these proposals would apply to Price Regulated Services and Bundles which are not subject to price cap regulation (i.e., predominantly BTC’s mobile services).
For the avoidance of doubt, the existing Rules (ECS 06/2014) will still apply to Price Capped Services. There will be a separate consultation on Price Capped Services which will also entail a review of the Rules as they pertain to Price Capped Services.
This consultation supplements the other work areas and projects that were identified in URCA’s 2015 Annual Plan and its proposed 2016 Annual Plan on the key regulatory issues that will need to be addressed in light of the introduction of mobile competition in The Bahamas.