EU: Telefonica fine upheld by Court of Justice

The European Court of Justice, the region’s highest court, has reportedly upheld a fine of more than $200 million imposed on Spain’s Telefonica originally sanctioned on the telco for dominance abuse.

According to reports, the fine was issued by the EU General Court in 2007 after the European Commission’s actions, and marked the largest fine imposed on a telecommunications company at the time. Telefonica was found to have “abused their dominant position by imposing unfair prices on their competitors,” the General Court found. Telefonica reportedly forced rivals to reduce prices by undercutting competitors with their own prices, reports say, a “clear-cut abuse,” the judgment found.

Telefonica appealed the fine on grounds that the company could not “reasonably have foreseen the Commission’s interpretation of EU law,” but the Court of Justice demanded Telefonica to pay the penalty in full.

Full content: ZDNet

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.