The economic crisis has herald a worrying paradigm for the consumer and that is the reemergence of monopolies. With small businesses crumbling under the economic pressure, large conglomerates are taking the opportunity to buy up limping companies to build capacity.
Consumer’s Woes
This is not good for small businesses or the consumers. With the monopolies comes monopolistic pricing. Just check out the rates for our electricity - a great example of a monopoly at work.
On the other hand DIGICEL’s entry into the local market immediate saw a more affordable cost in cellular service making the consumer cry foul of the monopolistic pricing practices they had endured under Cable & Wireless.
Small Business Woes
For small businesses the crumbs usually don’t fall of the table in terms of the opportunity to offer services to monopolies. For example when BS&T where at their height, they used PR and marketing from BCB Communications and signage from New Tech Inc. both of which are subsidiaries of the Bank Holdings Group. The focus for the monopoly is not to support but to see how they can extent their value chain forward and backwards.
Ansal McCal’s announcement of the formation of their “dynamic new distribution company” which combines A&R Tempro, Brydens Distribution and Stokes & Bynoe Ltd, is therefore cause for concern for both the small business and the consumer.
