Spain’s National Competition Commission (CNC) has fined Abertis Telecom €13.755 million for abusing its dominant position in the market for transmission and distribution of DTT signals.
The National Competition Commission has today sanctioned Abertis Telecom with a fine of 13.755 million euros on the grounds that the company abused its dominant position in the market for distribution services DTT signal.
CNC opened the case in April 2010 following a complaint from satellite operator Astra, to investigate whether Abertis was preventing the entry of competitors into the market for DTT distribution services.
The research found after an analysis of costs and revenues of Abertis, that the operator was abusing its dominant position through margin squeeze.
Given that this behavior is very serious and that has hindered the entry of competitors into the market of transport and distribution of DTT signals, the Council of the CNC has imposed a penalty of €13.755 million
This is the second time that the CNC issued a fine to Abertis. The first time was in May 2009 for the abuse of dominant position in the wording of their contracts and the built-in rebate structure, which hindered other parties to enter the TV distribution market.
According to reports in the Spanish press, Abertis said the fine is “erroneous in form and substance” and will appeal the decision before the Spanish High Court.
