Slovak Telekom and its mother company Deutsche Telekom lost their appeal against the judgments of the General Court relating to anticompetitive practices on the Slovak telecommunications market, according to a press release by the EU Court of Justice on March 25.
The fine of €38mn for both companies and €19mn only for Deutsche Telekom imposed in 2014 by the EU remain unchanged.
Both companies challenged a decision at the General Court which in a ruling in 2018 decreased a fine for Deutsche Telekom by about 30% to €19mn and changed the joint fine to €38mn.
As reported by Reuters, the EU watchdog said the two companies had charged unfair wholesale prices in Slovakia to squeeze out broadband competitors in a practice known as margin squeeze that lasted more than five years starting from 2005.
The EC initiated proceedings against Slovak Telekom and Deutsche Telekom for abusing a dominant position on the domestic market also in 2009. Five years later it issued a decision to impose a fine of €38mn on the company. The company then questioned the legality of punishment for the same cause of action before the EU court.
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