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

Apple App Store unfair trading conditions in the Netherlands 2021
03 July 25 Miklós Kozma

Update: The Rotterdam District Court upheld the Dutch competition authority’s 2021 antitrust decision against Apple for imposing unfair trading conditions on dating app providers. The court also confirmed the authority’s previously suspended order that bars Apple from charging dating app providers a commission on in-app payments processed with alternative payment systems.

Antitrust & Mergers Report 2Q 2025
02 July 25 Miklós Kozma

This edition of Cullen International’s quarterly Antitrust & Mergers Report looks at the European Commission’s review of EU merger guidelines, the first EU antitrust case on a no-poach agreement, and the latest on the enforcement of Germany’s special antitrust rules for large digital platform providers.

Prosus (Naspers)/Just Eat Takeaway merger (pending case)
02 July 25 Grégoire Henno

The European Commission is consulting until 11 July 2025 on the proposed €4.1bn acquisition of online food delivery company Just Eat Takeaway by investment group Prosus. The Commission’s merger review is likely to focus on the horizontal overlaps between the operations of Just Eat Takeaway and rival online food delivery company Delivery Hero, in which Prosus holds a sizable minority stake. The Commission has until 28 July 2025 to either clear the transaction or launch an in-depth phase II merger control investigation.

Latest State Aid & Subsidies intelligence

Deployment of very high-capacity networks in Belgium 2024
06 June 25 Grégoire Henno

The Belgian authorities reported to the European Commission ad hoc state aid measures totalling €68.2m to support the deployment of fixed very high-capacity access networks (VHCN) in so-called white areas where no current or planned network provides a minimum download speed of 100 Mbps.

Deployment of very high capacity networks in Belgium’s Walloon region 2022 and 2024
06 June 25 Grégoire Henno

The Belgian authorities reported to the European Commission several ad hoc state aid measures totalling €54.6m in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to support the deployment of fixed very high-capacity access networks (VHCN) in underserved areas of Belgium’s Walloon region.

Amazon selective tax advantage in Luxembourg 2017 (annulled)
31 May 25 Miklós Kozma

Update: The European Commission formally closed its investigation into an alleged selective tax advantage granted by Luxembourg to Amazon between 2006 and 2014. The Commission’s 2017 decision ordering the recovery of €250m in allegedly illegal state aid was annulled on appeal by EU courts.

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

get in touch

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