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.

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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.

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state aid & subsidies

Our State Aid & Subsidies service offers intelligence on EU rules designed to ensure that public support measures in telecoms and the digital economy do not unduly distort competition and private investment. The principal focus of the service lies in the application of state aid rules to subsidised broadband deployment and take-up measures.

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 these rules in relation tother developments, such as unfair advantages in spectrum auctions and big tech taxation
gain insights into key EU funding initiatives in telecoms and the digital economy, such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)
understand the implications of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR)

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Latest Antitrust & Mergers intelligence

EDF/Vauban/OnTower Austria merger 2024

06 October 24 Miklós Kozma

The European Commission unconditionally cleared the acquisition of OnTower Austria, the Austrian business of tower company Cellnex, by French investment companies EDF Invest and Vauban Infrastructure Partners.

O2 CZ/Nordic Telecom merger 2024

02 October 24 Miklós Kozma

Following an initial phase I merger review, the Czech competition authority conditionally cleared O2’s acquisition of Nordic Telecom, a competing telecoms operator. To secure clearance, O2’s owner PPF undertook to provide wholesale broadband access to the fixed network of CETIN, also controlled by PPF, in 243 municipalities for five years. PPF also committed to investing CZK 240m (€9.6m) in the network, on top of the CZK 3.5bn (€140m) investment commitment it made in a previous merger case.

Antitrust & Mergers Report 3Q 2024

01 October 24 Miklós Kozma

This edition of the Antitrust & Mergers Report looks at a potential shift in approach to mobile mergers, the continued scrutiny of partnerships and “acquihires” in the generative AI space, and EU courts’ latest rulings on exclusionary abuses of dominance.

Latest State Aid & Subsidies intelligence

e&/PPF Telecom Group foreign subsidies 2024

25 September 24 Miklós Kozma

Update: The European Commission conditionally approved under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation the proposed acquisition of a controlling majority stake in PPF Telecom Group by Emirates Telecommunication Group Company (e&). The commitments include the removal of the unlimited state guarantee enjoyed by e&.

Apple selective tax advantage in Ireland 2016

11 September 24 Miklós Kozma

Update: The EU Court of Justice reversed the judgment of the lower court and upheld the European Commission’s 2016 decision which requires Ireland to recover up to €13bn of unlawful state aid that Apple received between 2003 and 2014 in the form of a selective tax advantage.

Connectivity vouchers for ultrafast broadband in Greece 2024

18 August 24 Carmen Mateas

The European Commission approved under EU state aid rules a Greek €80m connectivity voucher scheme to support the take-up of 250 Mbps (download) or symmetric 100 Mbps fixed broadband access services.

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get in touch

For more information about our Competition services, please contact:

Janne Kalliala phone: +39 348 69 18 879 janne.kalliala@cullen-international.com