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 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)

     

Latest Antitrust & Mergers intelligence

Google/Wiz merger 2026
11 February 26 Janne Kalliala

Update: Following an initial phase I merger review, the European Commission unconditionally cleared Google’s US$32bn (€27.5bn) acquisition of US-based cloud security company Wiz.

Report urges move from theories of harm to theories of competitive effects in EU merger assessment
10 February 26 Miklós Kozma

The report from economic consultancy BRG, commissioned by GSMA and Connect Europe, recommends that the European Commission assess mergers’ procompetitive “strategic effects”, including dynamic effects on innovation and investment, on an equal footing with anticompetitive effects.

Meta AI possible access restriction abuse, EU (pending case)
09 February 26 Janne Kalliala

Update: The European Commission sent a statement of objections to Meta, setting out its preliminary view that the company abused its dominant position by preventing third-party AI assistants from accessing and interacting with users on its WhatsApp messaging platform. Pending the conclusion of its investigation, the Commission intends to impose interim measures to prevent this conduct from causing serious and irreparable damage to competition. The Commission’s investigation excludes Italy, where the national competition authority imposed interim measures in December 2025.

Latest State Aid & Subsidies intelligence

Broadband state aid spending in the EU: latest figures
15 February 26 Janne Kalliala

According to the latest available European Commission data, EU member states spent a total of €4.59bn on broadband state aid in 2024. This was 12% less than in 2023.

Foreign Subsidies Regulation: European Commission’s new guidelines
18 January 26 Janne Kalliala

The guidelines aim to enhance legal certainty by explaining how the Commission assesses distortions in the EU internal market caused by subsidies granted by non-EU countries, and how it uses its investigatory powers.

Deployment of passive 5G mobile infrastructure in rural areas of the Czech Republic 2023 and 2025
10 November 25 Grégoire Henno

The Czech authorities reported to the European Commission an amendment to a CZK 300m state aid measure to support the deployment of passive 5G mobile infrastructure in rural areas. The amendment extended the deadline for aid beneficiaries to deploy the subsidised networks by three months, until 30 June 2026.

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