Swiss anti-trust regulators on Monday said they would challenge a decision to cancel a 314-million-dollar fine they had imposed on telecoms giant Swisscom for abusing its dominant market position.
The Swiss competition commission (Comco) said it was appealing to the Federal Tribunal, the country’s highest court to get the record 333 million Swiss franc (230 million euros, 314 million dollars) fine reinstated.
The Tribunal will “have to decide if (the commission), based on the law on cartels, can act in this way in regulated sectors against companies abusing their dominant market position,” Comco said.
In 2007, after an eight-year probe, regulators found that Swisscom Mobile had unfairly charged rivals overly high call termination fees in 2004 and 2005 and imposed the fine.
Swisscom appealed to the Administrative Tribunal which ruled earlier this month that while Swisscom Mobile had a dominant market position, it did not find any abuse and consequently quashed the fine.
Comco said it believed it had the law on its side and that the fine should be imposed.
The Swiss mobile phone market is dominated by Swisscom, Danish business Sunrise and France Telecom’s Orange unit.
