Commission fines Telefónica and Portugal Telecom €79m for illegal non-compete contract clause

EUROPA - PRESS RELEASES - Press Release - Antitrust: Commission fines Telefónica and Portugal Telecom € 79 million for illegal non-compete contract clause: "Article 101 of the TFEU prohibits agreements that have the object or effect to restrict competition and may affect trade in the EU Single Market. Both Telefónica and Portugal Telecom are the largest telecoms operators in their home countries. For example, in 2011 Telefónica accounted for almost half of all revenue generated by the Spanish telecoms sector. Each of the parties has a very limited presence in the other party's home country. The Commission opened an investigation on its own initiative in January 2011 (see IP/11/58) after it became aware of the agreement between Telefónica S.A. and Portugal Telecom SGPS S.A. The Commission has a copy of the agreement concluded on the occasion of the Vivo transaction and of the non-compete clause, which originally was due to run from September 2010 to the end of 2011. The Commission sent the parties a Statement of Objections in October 2011 (see IP/11/1241)." 'via Blog this'