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I820 - ICA: 28-day billing, EUR 228-million fine imposed on Fastweb, TIM, Vodafone and Wind Tre


PRESS RELEASE


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The Antitrust Authority has imposed a fine totalling EUR 228 million on Fastweb, TIM, Vodafone and Wind Tre as it found that the four telecommunication operators agreed on an anti-competitive cartel with regard to the repricing carried out in the return to monthly billing.

In particular, the investigation showed that the four telecommunication operators had coordinated their commercial strategies for switching from four-weekly billing (28 days) to monthly billing, with the percentage increase maintained at 8.6%.

This coordination was intended to maintain the price increase, thus frustrating business comparison and customer mobility.

The Authority had adopted interim measures in March 2018 which, due to the specific procedures and time frames involved, had prevented the complete implementation of the cartel. In fact, following the adoption of these measures, operators had been forced to overhaul their commercial strategies and this had led to a fall in prices compared with the announced remodulation.

In imposing the sanctions, the Authority balanced, on the one hand, the need for effective deterrence against possible concerted conduct between these operators in the future and, on the other hand, the need to act in a way that was not unfairly punitive.

In doing so, it firstly took account of the fact that the effects of the cartel had been avoided by applying interim measures for the first time, which, moreover, led to a differentiated reduction in prices for the customers of the operators subject to the proceedings before the repricing was completed.

Secondly, the Authority considered the specific nature of the conduct within the context of the fixed and mobile telecommunications markets, as well as the competitive conditions in the sector, in terms of both prices and the technological investments necessary to ensure their development.

 

Rome, 31 January 2020