Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Deutsche Telekom, Slovak subsidiary fined nearly €39M for abusive conduct, (Oct 15, 2014)

The European Commission (EC) has fined Slovak Telekom, a.s. and its parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG, €38,838,000 for pursuing an abusive strategy to shut out competitors in the Slovak broadband services market, in violation of European Union antitrust rules. Specifically, the EC found that Slovak Telekom refused to supply competitors with unbundled access to its local loops, and further imposed a margin squeeze, or unfair tariffs, on them.

“Slovak Telekom’s strategy has distorted competition in the broadband market in Slovakia during more than 5 years, to the detriment of competition and consumers,” stated EC Vice-President Joaquín Almunia. “Slovak Telekom did not only refuse to give access to its unbundled local loops under fair conditions. It also pursued a margin squeeze policy which made it impossible for alternative operators to use its legacy telephone network infrastructure without incurring a loss. As the parent company with decisive influence on its subsidiary Deutsche Telekom has also been held responsible for the abusive conduct.”

Companies: Slovak Telekom, a.s.; Deutsche Telekom AG

News: Antitrust