“We appreciate that there will be reductions and not price increases in telecommunications” he mentioned the Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou answering a topical question of PASOK-KINAL MP Giorgos Nikitiadis.

The minister pointed out that “prices in recent years have decreased and not increased” noting that “the increase in inflation in recent years has not affected the prices of the telecommunications sector”. He recalled that last summer, when the National Telecommunications and Posts Commission submitted to public consultation the new Regulation that allowed the creation of a mechanism for price indexation in the active contracts of providers, “this process did not proceed and any increases were not accepted” . The government, the minister said, “does not have the ability to directly regulate retail prices in telecommunications, as it is a competitive market”. Our policy, Mr. Papastergiou said, is “to be in constant contact with the providers and many times we have taken initiatives and succeeded in reducing prices or in actions for the benefit of users”

The minister emphasized that apart from a publication that was “nowhere else has it been reported that there is any serious report of impending massive increases of 20%.” It is not a practice of increases of all companies as implied in this publication, but the reason was for one company only, which intends from April 1 to make increases in new contracts it will conclude.

On the contrary, Mr. Papastergiou added, “Cosmote announced its addition of almost 30% discount on wholesale prices. At the same time, the new player in telecommunications which is PPC has committed to corresponding reductions in relation to the prices of the wholesale model. Therefore, we understand that this will bring about reductions in retail prices as well.”

He acknowledged that “Greece is not one of the cheapest countries in telecommunications but in no case is it the most expensive.” The minister, citing data from the EETT report, said that “in 2023, the de-escalation of prices in telecommunications continued for the fourth year” both at national and European level. In particular, he said that “our country, according to a study by EET, is in the middle of the price list among EU countries in the “expensive packages” of mobile telephony”.

Regarding the speeds, Mr. Papastergiou said that in mobile telephony we are in 36th place in the world ranking, “indeed, we are lagging behind in landline speeds.” But he pointed out that the development of optical fibers is growing at a very fast rate – from 2018 when we had zero installation in homes, today we have 36% coverage, where homes can potentially be connected. In September 2022 the number of homes with access to a fiber optic network increased by 34.5%. Today, although one-third of homes have optical fibers outside, only 9% of homes are connected to a fiber optic network, apparently considering the cost to be expensive. For this reason, said the minister, we are proceeding with two packages that cover a significant part of the installation costs financed by the Recovery Fund and the Public Investment Program.

Mr. Papastergiou also mentioned that “last Tuesday there was a meeting with the four companies that provide wholesale and retail telecommunications services and committed to the development of optical networks”. “By 2026, Vodafone Hellas has committed to having implemented 850,000 new fiber optic lines to homes, Cosmote will have implemented 3,000,100 new fiber optic lines, PPC will have implemented 1,300,000 new lines and Nova 1,000,000 new fiber optic lines. In total, these investments are more than 4 billion euros”.

Finally, regarding the comparisons made for the money received from the tender for “5G” in relation to the tender held in Portugal, the minister pointed out that they were not the same neither in terms of time nor in terms of spectrum.

PASOK-KINAL MP Giorgos Nikitiadis, citing reports, he said that it is recorded that “takeoffs are expected in the charges for mobile, fixed telephony and internet”. Citing research, he said that telecommunications prices in Greece are very high compared to countries not only in the EU but also in the OECD. He argued that an attempt by the government over the summer to pressure providers to lower prices had failed. He pointed out that the telecommunications market is huge and only three companies are exploiting it and added that the government should make an effort so that other companies come or exist. Finally, the PASOK-KINAL MP asked EETT to check if there are harmonized tariff policies from these three companies.