The Dutch competition regulator has cleared the country's three mobile operators of allegations of price-fixing, but warned they must avoid public statements on strategy in order to prevent indirect coordination with competitors. The Consumer & Markets Authority, which started an investigation into the mobile operators in 2011, said there were risks to competition from the mobile operators making comments at trade shows or in the press about future plans that may not yet be definite. This could include comments about possible price increase or tightening conditions for end-users. If other operators took this as a signal to take similar action, it could be construed as cartel-forming, the regulator said.
The mobile operators KPN, Vodafone and T-Mobile have pledged to refrain from such public statements, step up their compliance programmes and train staff better on the issues. In addition to planned checks on these measures, the regulator has drafted a decision outlining the agreement. After a public consultation, the agreement may be made binding on the mobile operators.
The operators welcomed the conclusion of the investigation. T-Mobile said the agreements made with the ACM were already part of its compliance programme and it will continue to ensure they remain a structural part of employee training.
KPN said it started its own internal investigation shortly after the regulator launched the investigation in 2011. This found that there was no evidence of illegal activity. KPN said it was in general agreement with the ACM that public statements over possible market activity that is not yet definite could form a risk to competition. As a result it has agreed to tighten its compliance rules on the matter.
Vodafone said it was satisfied with the conclusion of the investigation that there was no violation of competition law. The company said the long investigation had proven disruptive to its organisation and affected employees and it's happy to see the end of it and the sector cleared of wrongdoing.
