Greece's telecom companies have sharply criticized a report prepared by Finland's Rewheel (on behalf of the country's Competition Commission) assessing mobile phone prices but all the noise seems to have had an effect.
Yesterday, almost at the same time that Greece's digital governance minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis sided with the companies in terms of their costs, Vodafone Greece announced six new packages of unlimited data, with a monthly cost of 55 to 78 euros. The new products are aimed at households and businesses and come with unlimited calls in Greece and unlimited SMS.
This is a commercial initiative that, as it seems, will be followed in the coming days or weeks by Vodafone's competitors in Greece. It is also a response from the companies to talk in recent weeks about the Rewheel report. The cost of the packages is higher than the corresponding ones in Europe but is expected to decrease in coming months, according to telecom officials.
Yesterday, Pierrakakis argued that if taxes are removed, the cost of data in Greece is close to European averages. This is a statement that will certainly not make the chairman of the Competition Commission, Ioannis Lianos, happy. Lianos had backed Rewheel's conclusions, sparking a dispute with the management of the National Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT), which oversees the telecommunications market.
On the occasion of the new products being launched, the President and CEO of Vodafone Greece, Haris Broumidis, stated:
"With these new commercial products, we are innovating in the field of mobile phone packages and introducing a new era in which individuals and businesses will communicate from now on. We are responding to real needs, with unlimited data, voice services, and messages, but also unlimited access to business applications. We are changing market conditions, and with the new possibilities we are giving, we are providing for our customers a new, innovative and unlimited communication experience that has come to stay and we are actively contributing to the formation of Greece's digital future".
After this, expected responses from competitors will be of particular interest.