France Telecom and its Orange Caraibe subsidiary have been fined EUR 63 million by the French Competition Authority for anti-competitive practices in the mobile phone and fixed-to-mobile markets in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana. The case was brought by Bouygues Telecom Caraibe, which was later joined by Outremer Telecom. The authority had made a preliminary injunction in 2004 for Orange Caraibe to cease some behaviour denounced in the complaint. The operator modified its sales policy after the Paris Appeals Court upheld the preliminary decision in 2005. The competition authority found that while operating as the dominant operator with over 75 percent of the mobile market in the Antilles-Guiana zone in 2000-2005, Orange Caraibe put in place a number of practices that made it harder for rival operators to develop their operations. These included signing exclusive agreements with independent distributors, exclusivity clauses with the only accredited mobile phone repair company in the Caribbean, and unfair pricing differences between on-net and off-net calls. The competition authority also found that In 2004, Orange Caraibe offered businesses and local authorities fixed-to-mobile prices that were lower than costs. France Telecom can appeal the decision at the Paris Appellate Court.

source£ºtelecompaper