Chile’s Tribunal for the Defence of Free Competition (TDLC) handed down a landmark antitrust ruling in June 2025. It found operator WOM held a dominant position in the market for on‑network A2P SMS termination services, and that its 67‑fold sharp increase of wholesale termination fees for international A2P SMS constituted an abuse of market power. This case establishes the regulatory benchmark for A2P wholesale pricing across Chile’s operators and governs charging rules applied to A2P aggregators.
Core case facts: Multiple locally‑licensed A2P aggregators filed complaints against WOM for unilaterally hiking in‑net A2P SMS termination settlement rates by as much as 67 times. Complaints also covered delays in short‑code activation approvals. After several rounds of judicial review, TDLC confirmed WOM’s dominance in its own‑network SMS termination market. The price hike was classified as excessive pricing without valid cost‑based justification. Allegations over delayed short‑code approvals were not ruled as monopolistic abuse.
Judicial sanctions: WOM was fined 1312 UTA (approx. 1.06 billion Chilean pesos) payable to the national treasury. WOM was ordered to cancel invoices issued at excessive rates, re‑issue settlement documents based on original baseline prices and complete corresponding financial adjustments.
This precedent carries strong industry‑wide binding effects. Wholesale A2P pricing from Entel, Movistar and Claro is adopted as the fair‑market reference benchmark. Chilean telecom authorities oblige operators to file A2P termination tariffs with the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office (FNE). Discriminatory over‑charging against duly‑licensed domestic aggregators is prohibited, and operators may not squeeze downstream A2P service providers via arbitrary price hikes. All SMPP‑link cooperation must comply with market rules established by this antitrust verdict.
