Following a referral on 16 September 2020 by the firm Messageries Lyonnaises de Presse, today Arcep is publishing its opinion on the new technical, pricing and contractual terms and conditions being proposed by the company MLP.
MLP has made substantial chances to its technical, pricing and contractual terms and conditions
The price schedules that MLP has presented for 2021 differ significantly from those that were applied at the start of 2020. In particular, Arcep notes that the way in which the products and services and their pricing is presented is more legible and more complete. The Authority also notes that the welcome and the group discounts are not included in the price schedule that MLP plans on applying as of 1 January 2021. Arcep is nevertheless requesting that MLP put its new price schedule into effect upon being notified of this opinion, as MLP itself suggested.
MLP must provide additional clarifications on its price schedule
The pricing structures remain very disparate, however, notably due to the number and variety of possible discounts, added to which some of the newly introduced pricing changes raise questions about the content of the services to which they apply. In addition, certain information that is needed to fully understand and analyse the fees that are invoiced and discounts afforded, is still missing.
Arcep is therefore requesting that MLP provide it with supplementary and updated information on the volumes distributed and their costs, within two weeks of having been notified of this opinion.
Regarding discounted prices, Arcep is asking MLP to supply it with the elements that justify the changes it has made to the pricing of publishing fees, expedited processing and recovery of unsold copies services, within two weeks of having been notified of this opinion. MLP also has until 15 April 2021 to provide Arcep with a quantified implementation record of the discounts, so that it might analyse the impact on the first months of their application.
Also within two weeks of having been notified of this opinion, MLP must include all of the products and services it markets in its catalogue, and complete the publicly available information on its website.