Slovak Telekom and Deutsche Telekom lose appeal at EU Court of Justice

By bne IntelliNews March 29, 2021

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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