AGCM

MOTORWAY ASSISTANCE: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY ACCEPTS AND RENDERS BINDING COMMITMENTS  MADE BY MOTORWAY MANAGEMENT COMPANIES AS WELL AS BY ACI AND EUROPE ASSISTANCE

The measures adopted will make it possible to reduce charges thanks to increased competition. For breakdown assistance to light vehicles operators will be chosen only if their maximum charges are 20% lower than the current maximum. This completes an investigation begun on 20 September 2007 into Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A., Strada dei Parchi S.p.A., Società Autostrada Tirrenica S.p.A., ANAS S.p.A., ACI Global S.p.A., Europe Assistance VAI S.p.A. and the AISCAT association.

The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 23 October 2008, decided to accept and make obligatory the commitments proposed by Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A., Strada dei Parchi S.p.A., Società Autostrada Tirrenica S.p.A., ANAS S.p.A., ACI Global S.p.A., Europe Assistance VAI S.p.A. and AISCAT in the course of an investigation into alleged abuse of a dominant position by the motorway operating companies and the alleged existence of a set of arrangements among those operators, their trade association and the motorway breakdown companies that provide various forms of assistance; all this with the aim of maximizing profits to the detriment of motorists.

When the commitments presented by the parties during these proceedings are put into effect, there should be a significant reduction in the cost of breakdown assistance due to the increased competitive pressure resulting from the potential entry of new operators who are interested in providing such services on the motorway network.

Specifically:

1) Commitments relating to an alleged anti-competitive arrangement

Anas, Aspi and the other companies in the group will call for public bids before assigning mechanical assistance services on short stretches of motorway; such services will also be subdivided into assistance for heavy vehicles and for light vehicles. For the latter, the maximum charge foreseen in the selection process will be equivalent to the maximum charged at present less 20 per cent. All other conditions being equal, the operators selected will be those that propose the lowest charges. Satellite technology will also be introduced to allow the motorway management company's radio room to locate in real time the nearest adequately equipped breakdown vehicle. For assistance calls in perfectly safe locations (service or parking areas), the motorway companies will allow users to choose an authorized breakdown operator according to the conditions they offer. The motorist's choice will be facilitated by the setting up of information panels.

Overall, these innovations will encourage the entry of new operators and should have a positive effect in terms of the end charges applied to motorists.

ACI Global and Vai also presented commitments to cancel or modify reciprocal agreements with competing operators and to avoid any form of sharing with competitors in matters relating to breakdown services. Aiscat will modify its articles of association in order to eliminate any interference with the economic conduct of the breakdown companies and has undertaken to limit discussions in its meetings with industry operators to questions of an exclusively technical nature having to do with traffic management and road safety.

This resolves the problems regarding competition noted at the time the proceedings were begun and extended, which could have allowed the two main motorway breakdown companies, ACI and VAI, together with AISCAT, Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A., Strada dei Parchi S.p.A., Società Autostrada Tirrenica S.p.A. and ANAS S.p.A. to maintain a business model that substantially excluded the entry of potential competitors.

2) Commitments relating to alleged abuse of a dominant position

ANAS S.p.A, Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A. (Aspi) and the group's two concession-holders, Strada dei Parchi S.p.A. and SAT S.p.A., have completely eliminated the radio room fee previously charged to breakdown operators which in the final analysis increased the end cost of the service paid for by the consumer. This means that all the potential sources of abusive conduct initially identified for investigation have been cleared up.

Rome, 8 November 2008