EU upholds Telefónica fine
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EU upholds Telefónica fine

The European Union told reporters today that it has upheld a fine to be paid by Telefónica for exploiting its position in the Spanish broadband market.

In March this year Telefónica was fined approximately €152 million by European Union regulators which said in a statement that the Spanish operator had “abused its dominant position” in the market.

Regulators also accused the operator of “margin squeezing”; deliberately under-pricing wholesale services to hurt rivals, which is a form of monopoly abuse.

Telefónica appealed to the General Court over the decision but this was rejected.

“In today’s judgement, the Court dismisses Telefonica’s appeal in its entirety,” the European Court of Justice said.

“The fine of €151, 875,000 imposed by the Commission and upheld by the General Court therefore remains unchanged.”

In February, Telefónica was fined €500 million for two allegedly "very serious" breaches of competition rules in its home market.

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