Brussels threatens to penalize Telefónica

Brussels threatens to penalize Telefónica

She presents a statement of charges where she accuses her of failing to fulfill her promises to Competence to authorize the purchase of E-Plus in Germany.

  The European Commission seems to want to exemplify with Telefónica , which it accuses of being the first group that allegedly violated a pact signed with the EU competition authorities to authorize a business concentration. It refers, in particular, to the purchase of the German operator E-Plus by the Spanish multinational, announced in 2013 for nearly 5,000 million euros.

According to the department of the Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager , announced on Friday , the company presided by José María Álvarez-Pallete would not have met one of the three conditions that were set at that time in exchange for giving the green light to the operation. Telefónica Deutschland had, according to Brussels, to offer 4G wholesale services to all interested market players "at the best prices", but it would not have done so because community technicians have verified that third companies "would have benefited from more advantageous conditions of access »To that network.

   From the subsidiary of the operator defend that it has complied with the agreement, "in the same way that has been done with other remedies of the merger ", which is how it is known in technical terms to the conditions that are put to a transaction for that does not reduce competition in the market ». The Commission does admit that it has made the other two points of that agreement: the sale of up to 30% of its joint network (in Germany ) to a virtual mobile operator and transfer to another company part of its radio wave spectrum and other different assets.

But the person in charge of Competition sees it as insufficient and for that reason has already presented a list of charges , because "we take ourselves very seriously" any act that "harms the consumers ". Telefónica Deutschland has until April 5 to present claims. If not estimated, it faces a fine of up to 10% of its turnover, which in 2018 was 7,320 million. Even in the worst scenario for the operator, the authorized acquisition in October 2014 could be partially or totally revoked.