Portugal Fines Altice For Forming A Cartel

The AdC, Portuguese Competition Authority, imposed a fine of €84 million (US$101.9 million) on the telecommunication operator MEO, a subsidiary of Altice, for market sharing and price fixing of mobile and fixed telecommunications services with NOWO.

The cartel established by MEO and NOWO resulted in higher prices and less quality of service, as well as geographical restrictions that harmed consumers throughout the Portuguese territory.

Following the conclusion of an MVNO contract between these companies, MEO and NOWO entered into an anti-competitive agreement whereby NOWO has agreed not to launch mobile services outside the geographic areas where it provided fixed services, thus not competing with MEO in Lisbon and Porto areas.

In the scope of this cartel, NOWO has agreed with MEO not to make mobile offers for €5 or less (or with prices lower than the reference price of similar offers in the market). NOWO also agreed to implement price increases and reduce the quality of bundled offers of fixed and mobile services.

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