Since the beginning of April operators in Finland have been allowed to offer consumers 3G phones together with a subscription. Contracts can have a fixed duration of up to two years. In marketing it is essential to ensure consumers' real possibility to make comparisons and to provide clear information on the terms of an offer, such as the fixed duration of a contract. The Consumer Ombudsman has sent a letter to operators concerning marketing practices.
Information needed for comparison
The new services and how they are priced vary from one operator to another, so clear price information is necessary. When a specific 3G offer is marketed, operating costs and the possible cost of a phone as well as the total cost of a fixed-duration contract must be indicated in a clear and understandable way. According to the Consumer Protection Act, when a package is offered the advertiser must clearly indicate the price of different parts of the package if purchased separately and the value of the offer. An operator must also offer a similar subscription without a phone. The new provision in the Telecommunications Market Act concerning packages requires that total additional costs be indicated. Additional costs include higher monthly charges, call charges and service prices that are related to the package.
Offer terms must be clear
The Consumer Protection Act requires that the content of an offer along with terms and restrictions must be clearly indicated in a package. Essential information includes fixed duration, the length of the contract period, a block on other subscriptions, limited coverage of the 3G network and its significance. Marketing in which one particularly cheap price element dominates advertising of a specific subscription while other information is presented unclearly gives consumers a false picture of the real costs of using a subscription and the content of the offer. The Supreme Court has ruled on the use of small print to provide information on call time, among other things, and has prohibited advertising in which offer terms and restrictions as well as operating costs for a specified subscription are not presented a clear and understandable way.