PREVIOUS CUSTOMERS' ARREARS: PROCEEDING BEGUN AGAINST TELECOM ITALIA
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
TELECOM: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO POSSIBLE ABUSE OF DOMINANT POSITION IN DEALINGS WITH CUSTOMERS TAKING OVER A PHONE LINE WITH ARREARS
The company is reported to demand payment of unpaid bills left by previous customers, thus exploiting its market position to the detriment of consumers
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 13 December 2007, decided to launch an investigation into possible abuse of a dominant position by Telecom Italia.
The investigation must determine whether Telecom, in demanding that customers taking over an existing number or requesting a new telephone line pay any arrears left by previous users, is abusing its dominant position in fixed-line telephony.
The information presented on the company's website seems to indicate that a person taking over the telephone number also replaces the previous customer in all contractual relations, including monetary ones. On this point, a number of articles in the General Subscriber Conditions expressly provide that Telecom may demand payment of sums owing in the case of an application for a new subscription, a transfer or a substitution presented by any person cohabiting with a customer who is in arrears. A similar demand may be made of companies, businesses, entities or associations in which the customer in arrears has any financial interest.
This procedure adopted by Telecom may therefore represent an obstacle not only to access to Telecom's telephone network, by increasing its cost, but also to the use of the voice and data services offered by this and competing companies.
In the Authority's view, Telecom's conduct toward end consumers may therefore constitute a case of abuse of a dominant position by making the activation of a new telephone line (or the taking over of an existing line) contingent upon the payment of a sum of money by a person who does not owe it, and which is not related to any service provided to that person by the company.
The proceeding must be concluded by 15 December 2008.
Rome, 14 December 2007