Belgacom mobile arm faces EUR66 million fine (Belgium)

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The Belgian Competition Council (BCC), has fined the Belgian mobile operator Belgacom relating to its mobile arm, Proximus. The fine slapped on the operator was of EUR66.3 million (USD92.6 million).
The fine has been levied by the watchdog which it says is the Belgacom’s abuse of its dominant position, and is the largest penalty ever handed down by the BCC.
The fine covers the time period of the 2004-2005, in which the operator allegedly set out to unfairly exclude rivals, and the BCC found that the tariffs charged by the cellco were lower than the wholesale prices charged by other operators; the examination of Proximus’ operations for this period stems from a complaint in 2005 by cellco BASE. ‘Competitors were unable to propose prices to their clients for communications towards the Proximus network that were more interesting or even similar to the prices that Proximus could offer to its clients’, a BCC statement on the matter noted.
Belgacom has said it plans to consider the ruling, and is likely to ascertain whether there are grounds for an appeal in the next few days.