Opportunities and Challenges of Market Competition

Privatisation of these services provides both opportunities and challenges for consumers.

Opportunities - Consumers are offered more choices, lower prices and better quality. In order that consumers are offered these opportunities, legislation exists that sets out legal obligations on the providers and gives rights to consumers.

In order for consumers to benefit from the opportunities provided, it is important that they are well informed and have the skills to be able to benefit from the new market situation.

Challenges - When services of general interest were provided by state-owned or controlled monopolies, consumers had fewer things to worry about. Somebody else made all of the decisions on their behalf - there was only one provider, a set quality and one price to pay.

Now that these services have been privatised, consumers need to think and act differently. In order to get the best value and a good service, they need to be able to:

• search the marketplace for the services they need
• gather knowledge about different providers
• make decisions about the best deals based on - pricing, accessibility, geographical restrictions
• compare the quality of different services
• understand terms and conditions of contracts
• be able to access after sales services

The main aim of this website is to help consumers understand the potential challenges, learn how to overcome and turn the privatised markets into an opportunity to select the best services at the most competitive price.