Swisscom wins appeal in federal administrative court

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The main elements of Swisscom appeal over a ruling by the competition commission Weko regarding allegedly illegal mobile termination fees has been upheld by the Swiss federal administrative court. The court has overruled the fine of CHF 333 million.

It was ruled by Weko in February 2009 that mobile termination market is dominated by Swisscom besides violating its position as defined under the Swiss Cartel Act. The ruling followed an investigation launched in 2002 into possible abuse of dominant market position by Switzerland’s three mobile operators.

It was found by Weko that Swisscom was market dominant and had violated its position by charging unreasonably high fees between April 1, 2004 and May 31, 2005. An appeal was filed by Swisscom against the ruling in the Federal Administrative Court.

Weko’s conclusion that the operator abused that position to charge higher mobile termination fees was rejected by the court but it also found that Swisscom has a dominant market position. The verdict is open for appeal at the Swiss Federal Court.

The reasons behind the ruling point by point would be reviewed by Swisscom and Weko over the coming weeks and they will decide on next steps. Swisscom has not set aside any provision to cover this fine, which proved to be the right decision based on this ruling.