Romania’s Competition Council (CC) has fined Orange €14 million for abusing its dominant market position in the country.
In a statement, CC says that in the period 2011-2015 the company restricted Simplus Invest SRL’s access to its mobile network, blocking its business of sending commercial messages to/by Orange customers.
The CC notes that it previously fined Orange €34.8 million and Vodafone €28.3 million in 2011, again for abusing their dominant market positions.
Orange appealed to the Supreme Court but failed to have the fine overturned, while the Vodafone case is still pending.
Orange, Vodafone, Telekom and RCS&RDS are the main mobile operators in Romania, with all but one (Vodafone) also leading players in the country’s TV industry.
Vodafone will join them if its bid to acquire UPC Romania succeeds.
