Romania's Competition Council sanctioned Orange Romania with a fine of approximately EUR 14 million for abusing its dominant position during the period 2011-2015, according Telecompaper. The fine is higher that the EUR 10 million mentioned in an earlier report from the local media. The competition authority found that the operator limited Simplus Invest's access to its mobile network by blocking its business transmission of commercial messages to Orange customers or by Orange customers.
Simplus Invest is an integrator, a company that mediates the transmission of commercial messages through short numbers between certain beneficiary companies and mobile customers. Access to Orange's network is indispensable for integrators that need to market their own products as Orange has the largest number of customers on the mobile market, the regulator noted.
In the investigation, the authority found several Orange actions that limited Simplus' access to its network. Among these are the refusal to open new commercial services through the assignment of new short numbers or closing certain short numbers.
In the 2012-2013 period, Simplus was the main player in Romania on the market of mediation of transmission of commercial messages through short numbers. Orange's actions significantly diminished the ability of this integrator to compete on the market. Simplus' turnover decreased roughly five-fold in the 2012-2015 period.
The Competition Authority will inform the national telecommunications authority Ancom on the malfunctions identified in the analysed market in order to check if measures may be imposed in this area.
