competition

Competition in the communications sector is complex and fast-changing. This presents both risks and opportunities to providers, as well as challenges for public authorities.

Our competition intelligence services help organisations understand the changing face of competition. We help them grasp the commercial and policy implications of new developments, and make decisions with efficiency and confidence.

Offered on a subscription basis, the service includes alerts, reports, and a database of case summaries written in English. You can also contact our competition law experts at any time for answers to specific questions.

To see how we can help you, get in touch for a personal demo.

antitrust & mergers

Our Antitrust & Mergers service makes it simple to follow key trends in competition law and its enforcement. Covering the telecoms, media and postal sectors, as well as the digital economy, our intelligence helps leaders:

    • Stay informed on developments in abuse of dominance cases, covering infringements such as excessive pricing, predatory pricing, margin squeeze, self-preferencing, and tying and bundling.
    • Access data on the actions taken across the EU to address potentially anti-competitive agreements, such as network co-investment and sharing, and online sales restrictions in distribution agreements.
    • Track merger control cases to understand the wider implications of market consolidation for competition in Europe.

state aid & subsidies

Our State Aid & Subsidies service offers intelligence on subsidised telecoms projects across Europe. This includes a database of case summaries, as well as reports on EU state aid rules and how they apply to different projects.

Subscribe to our State Aid & Subsidies intelligence service to:

    • Understand the allowances and limits of public funding for broadband under EU state aid rules.
    • Follow the enforcement of state aid rules against tax benefits granted to large digital companies, such as Amazon and Apple.

Latest Antitrust & Mergers intelligence

Proximus possible abusive acquisition (pending case)
26 March 23 Miklós Kozma

The Belgian competition authority launched an investigation into a possible abuse of dominance by incumbent telecoms operator Proximus, which is in the process of acquiring alternative fixed operator Edpnet. According to the authority, the acquisition might constitute an infringement of article 102 TFEU, in light of a recent ruling by the EU Court of Justice.

MasMovil/Ahí+ merger 2022
21 March 23 Miklós Kozma

Update: The Spanish competition authority opened proceedings against MasMovil for allegedly providing incomplete, incorrect, misleading or false information to the authority in 2022 during its investigation of whether the company had to notify its acquisition of Ahí+, a group of local telecoms operators.

Orange Belgium/VOO and Brutélé merger 2023
21 March 23 Miklós Kozma

Update: The European Commission conditionally cleared Orange’s acquisition of Belgian cable operators VOO and Brutélé following an in-depth phase II merger control investigation. To secure clearance, Orange undertook to provide Telenet wholesale access to VOO and Brutélé’s cable networks as well as to the future fibre network which it plans to roll out in the coming years.

Latest State Aid & Subsidies intelligence

Explainer: EU General Block Exemption Regulation
22 March 23 Janne Kalliala

The General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) exempts member states from notifying to the European Commission certain categories of aid that comply with conditions which ensure the aid’s compatibility with the EU internal market. This report summarises the GBER’s updated provisions on broadband state aid, which are pending the Commission’s formal approval and entry into force.

Social vouchers for high-speed broadband take-up by low-income households in Spain 2022
10 March 23 Carmen Mateas

The European Commission approved under EU state aid rules a €30m social voucher scheme helping low-income households to subscribe or upgrade to high-speed broadband of at least 30 Mbps.

Proposed state aid for 5G standalone network infrastructure in Spain
27 February 23 Carmen Mateas

The Ministry for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation is consulting until 18 March 2023 on a proposed state aid scheme to support the deployment of active and passive elements of 5G standalone networks in rural areas of Spain.

Get access to the full reports and find out what our service could do for you with a free trial.

get in touch

For more information about our Competition services, please contact: