A reader writes: On Friday, June 30, 2017 Mio Aruba license gets revoked, seriously affecting free market enterprise, consumer choices, infrastructure for the digital economy also known as kenniseconomie. This is a violation of freedom of speech according to the European Convention on Human Rights.
And apparently this is OK with all political parties participating in upcoming September elections.
Free enterprise? How can the government charge MIO the same license fees as SETAR which has thousands more clients, so they can spread the costs over more accounts, and furthermore MIO doesn’t even have a GSM mobile network!
MIO is CDMA technology which SETAR used to have for their first Primo cellular phones!
(Wikipedia: CDMA, Code-Division Multiple Access, refers to any of several protocols used in second-generation (2G) and third-generation (3G) wireless communications).
So how can the government charge MIO the same license fee as SETAR?
Here is how: Under the guise of free enterprise, and the so-called even-playing field, GOA puts MIO into such a high license fee category that MIO cannot meet its obligation, and then MIO is forced to fold… SETAR recovers its monopoly, and hundreds of MIO customers are forced back into the fold, destined to pay much higher phone rates.
In other countries, the government charges license fees in proportion to the number of customers … so why not in Aruba??
When we insisted on a reaction/response from MIO, they said:
Good Afternoon,
Over the last seven years, Mio has done everything in its power to provide extraordinary service at an affordable price. As a company born from U.S. investments, we have considered ourselves guests in Aruba, and take the hospitality we have been shown by the Aruban people into careful consideration. As a result, we have chosen to remain respectfully quiet during this time of political tension, despite any public statements made regarding our organization.
We may, of course, be forced to speak publicly if and when the government of Aruba decides to take actions against a communications network relied upon by over six thousand customers. In the meantime, we will offer no other comments on the recent saber rattling including threatened actions that would be both unprecedented but, if taken at face value, potentially leave customers without critical communications, including emergency communications.
We hope that our position of restraint and respect for the political process in a foreign country can be respected by the media. Until forced otherwise, Mio will continue serving the people of Aruba to the best of our abilities, and provide the fairest rates available on the island.
Thank You,
Benjamin Allen
(+297) 600-9970
I imagine that is the desired result, as MIO shuts up and ships out.
The MinEcon came out with a statement that MIO is in arrears for fee, but he conveniently left out the reason for the dispute. He talked about a level playing field, but that reminds us of the mouse and the elephant joke…
Our question: How can you charge MIO the same fee as SETAR who has thousands of more clients …
How can you charge the mouse and elephant a fixed price for dinner?
