The European Commission has confirmed that its officials have initiated unannounced inspections at the premises of a number of telcos providing internet connectivity in several Member States.
Accompanied by their counterparts from relevant national competition authorities, they were acting on concerns that those companies were violating EU antitrust rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant market position.
The targeted companies are understood to have included Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Telefónica.
Deutsche Telekom said in a statement that it was surprised by the raids as previous allegations had proved to be unfounded, while Orange said its working practices had not been called into question.
According to the Commission, “unannounced inspections are a preliminary step into suspected anticompetitive practices. The fact that the Commission carries out such inspections does not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself. The Commission respects the rights of defense, in particular the right of companies to be heard in antitrust proceedings. The Commission does not make public the names of the companies inspected at this stage.
“There is no legal deadline to complete inquiries into anticompetitive conduct. Their duration depends on a number of factors, including the complexity of each case, the extent to which the undertakings concerned co-operate with the Commission and the exercise of the rights of defence”.
