PRICES, HOW DO THEY WORK? Venezuela’s 15-Cent Phone Bills Come Complete With No Service. “Investments dry up as rates are cheapest in the world.”

The price of Movistar’s top mobile internet plan is about 100 bolivars, or some $0.15 at the black market rate, compared to a $17 price tag for a similar plan offered by the firm in neighboring Colombia — leaves them with no money to invest or improve technology.

“By charging 3 to 4 dollars a month we could start to recover the systems,” Jose Luis Rodriguez Zarco, president of Telefonica in Venezuela, told journalists on Friday, adding that Venezuelan fares are the cheapest in the world. “We are not on the verge of a collapse, but each time we are going to compromise more quality.”

Rodriguez said that the company has no plans to leave Venezuela, but is in constant need of help from its parent in Spain to continue operating. Consumption has increased 73 percent in one year while a third of his staff has left the country, he said.

Bad luck.