The French competition authority has fined Altice and SFR EUR 40 million after they failed to honour commitments made for the acquisition of SFR, which was taken over by Altice’s subsidiary Numericable in 2014. The charge against the companies relates to the so-called 'Faber' contract signed between Bouygues Telecom and SFR in 2010 for co-investing in fibre infrastructure in densely populated areas. For Altice, this represents the third fine inflicted by the competition authority in connection with the SFR takeover.
When the competition authority granted its approval for Numericable’s acquisition of SFR on 30 October 2014, it required the merged entity to comply with several obligations, one being the commitment to honour the Faber contract to protect the interests of Bouygues Telecom. The authority, however, found that the subsequent actions of SFR have penalised its rival, noting that the pace of the fibre deployment has not met the agreed schedule. It also found that network maintenance has deteriorated, in breach of the original contract. As a result, a new calendar has been drawn up to ensure that SFR carries out its obligations, under the threat of progressive periodic penalty payments if it fails to comply.
Also linked to the SFR takeover, Altice received a EUR 15 million fine in April 2016, relating to the sale of Outremer Telecom, followed by a EUR 80 million fine in November 2016 for ‘gun-jumping’ practices. SFR said that it will appeal against this latest ruling.
