Vodacom and MTN cleared of price fixing charges (S Africa)
South Africa’s Competition Commission has reportedly cleared Vodacom and MTN of price-fixing, collusion and setting interconnect fees unfairly high.
According to reports, this decision was made despite the Competition Commission finding that MTN and Vodacom had similar rates and admitting that it still had residual concerns about the companies’ high rates between 2004 and 2009.
The Competition Commission’s manager for advocacy and stakeholder relations, Oupa Bodibe stated that the commission completed the investigation at the end of last year, and it decided not to refer the matter to the Competition Tribunal.
Swisscom and Groupe E partner for Fribourg fiber network (Switzerland)
Switzerland’s Competition Commission is reviewing a proposed joint venture between Swisscom and electrical utility Groupe E focused on extending fiber-optic network connections in the canton of Fribourg. The proposed partnership is the third pairing with a utility that Swisscom has announced in recent weeks. Fiber to the home (FTTH) connections would be part of the network extension.
Swisscom and Groupe E, which is based in the western half of Switzerland, submitted the joint venture contract to the Competition Commission last autumn. The two parties say they expect a decision from the commission by this May.
The proposed joint venture will see Swisscom pick up 60% of the investment, with other partners†assuming the remaining 40%. The identity of the other partners was not revealed. The canton of Fribourg was named as another partner in the joint venture.
Swisscom recently announced similar partnerships with Energie Wasser Bern (see Swisscom, Energie Wasser Bern agree on Berne FTTH/FTTB networkâ€) and IWB (see IWB, Swisscom join for FTTP in Baselâ€) to build FTTH/FTTB networks in other parts of Switzerland.
As in these previously announced pacts, the Fribourg network extension would see the connection of four fibers in each area of use (flat, house, or commercial premises) to provide access for competitive carriers.
Telstra loses appeal to charge AUD30 wholesale access fee (Australia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telstra’s latest appeal to set an AUD30 (USD27.1) per month wholesale access charge has been rejected by the Australian Competition Tribunal. Attempt has been made by the telco for more than five years to win the right to charge the fee to wholesale customers who wish to use the company’s copper network to deliver telephony and internet services to customers in metropolitan areas.
Approximately AUD17 a month is paid by the wholesale competitors, currently. Earlier in April 2009, Australian Competition Commission (ACCC) rejected an appeal by Telstra to charge AUD30.
According to Telstra spokesman Craig Middleton, the ACCC has started industry consultation on how to best determine regulated access pricing and it support this approach and is focused on achieving certainty for Telstra and industry, as quickly as possible, through a resolution of the appropriate costing of our network.
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.
EU set to intensify Qualcomm probe – sources
The European Commission is likely to intensify its investigation of Qualcomm Inc.’s patent licensing rates for a new generation of mobile phone technology, people familiar with the situation said on Monday.
The Commission will probably shift gears in its investigation in a decision that will involve Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.
“The Commission looks likely to move ahead in the coming weeks on this investigation,” one of the people said.
Some of the world’s biggest wireless technology firms had filed a complaint that Qualcomm was charging too much to license patents for high-speed, third-generation equipment.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., Nokia, Broadcom Corp., NEC Corp., Texas Instruments Inc. and Ericsson have said Qualcomm’s fees were far higher than the agreed-upon standard of “fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory
(FRAND).”
They said Qualcomm charges the same for using its patents for the new technology as it did for an older system, although its patents account for a far smaller percentage of the new system. Qualcomm shares were down 35 cents or almost 1 percent at $36.79 on Nasdaq in late afternoon trading.
Qualcomm sells technology licenses and chips based on CDMA, the dominant technology standard for U.S. cell phones. It also sells chips and licenses based on high-speed versions of GSM, the world’s most widely uses cell phone technology.
Its patents are used not only in phones based on its own CDMA technology but also in W-CDMA, which is the high-speed third-generation, or 3G, update to GSM.
Qualcomm has said its patents cover the foundation of the new system. It has also said that it was entitled to charge what the market would bear and that, in any case, the definition of FRAND was to be negotiated by the parties.
NEXT STEP
Qualcomm’s general counsel, Lou Lupin, said in a statement the complaining companies wanted to preserve market share although competition “has driven tangible decline in 3G handset prices and (helped the) introduction of powerful new features.”
The Commission case team has been preparing a complaint to go to Competition Commissioner Kroes, which would allow her to decide whether to take the next step, the sources said.
She is expected to move the investigation further, rather than abandon it, one of the sources said. The source added that were the probe to be closed at this point, that decision could be open to a legal challenge by the complainants.
If after its investigation the commission were to find apparent legal violations by Qualcomm, it would issue a charge sheet known as a statement of objections, to which the company would have a right to respond. But in past probes it has always taken months or years to get to this point.
Qualcomm’s practices have also stirred controversy in the United States, where a number of private lawsuits have been filed, leading to a confusing series of rulings.
Earlier on Monday, Qualcomm said a San Diego court barred Broadcom from the use of some Qualcomm trade secrets.
On Oct. 10, an administrative law judge said Qualcomm had infringed a Broadcom patent but stopped short of banning U.S. sales of mobile phones with Qualcomm chips.
On Oct. 20, a U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C., ordered a lower court to reconsider a ruling in favor of Qualcomm and against Nokia, which had asked for a temporary halt to Qualcomm’s patent infringement suit against it.
Source- http://in.today.reuters.com
