O2 Czech Republic CZK 91.9 million fine for loyalty restrictions on business customers
Company: O2 Czech Republic a.s.
Summary
The Czech competition authority found that the former ČESKÝ TELECOM, now O2 Czech Republic, abused its dominant position in 2001 and 2002 through contracts with nearly 3,000 business customers. Customers committed to minimum monthly call volumes, could not terminate agreements early and were restricted from using voice services from competing providers. The authority characterised the arrangements as barriers to competition and prohibited loyalty rebates. After multiple rounds of judicial review, a CZK 91,909,700 fine was confirmed by the Regional Court in Brno in October 2014. Sources: https://uohs.gov.cz/cs/informacni-centrum/tiskove-zpravy/hospodarska-soutez/1885-urad-obhajil-pred-soudem-rozhodnuti-o-pokute-byvalemu-ceskemu-telecomu.html and https://uohs.gov.cz/cs/hospodarska-soutez/sbirky-rozhodnuti/detail-11042.html