Sanction of around CHF 72 million against Swisscom confirmed
Published: Wednesday, Jun 26th 2024, 12:20
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The Federal Supreme Court has confirmed the Competition Commission's sanction against Swisscom in the dispute over sports broadcasts. The telecommunications company must pay a fine of CHF 71.8 million.
In 2016, the Swiss Federal Competition Commission (ComCo) concluded that Swisscom and Blue Entertainment (formerly CT Cinetrade AG) had exploited their dominant market position in the provision of sports broadcasts in the period from 2006 to 2013.
They had denied business relations with competitors and discriminated against trading partners by not providing Swiss football and ice hockey broadcasts and foreign football broadcasts, or by restricting them.
The Federal Administrative Court already confirmed the corresponding ruling in a decision from May 2022. The Federal Supreme Court follows the arguments of the lower court in a decision published on Wednesday.
Moderate offense
Swisscom and the companies Cinetrade and Teleclub have obstructed all competition on the TV market for years, writes the Federal Supreme Court. This was done through a combination of various unlawful practices. The court assumes a moderately serious violation of the Cartel Act.
The court also had no objections to the level of the sanction. The severity and duration of the infringements had been taken into account, as had their repetition. Swisscom must also pay CHF 100,000 for the proceedings before the Federal Supreme Court.
(Judgment 2C_561/2022 of 23.4.2024)
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