The General Court confirms the fine of more than €151 million imposed by the European Commission on Telefónica for having abused its dominant position in the Spanish wholesale market for regional and national access to broadband Internet.

The Spanish company Telefónica will have to pay the fine of €151 million imposed by the European Commission according to the General Court judgement. The Court considered that Telefónica had abused its dominant position in the Spanish market for wholesale access at a regional and national level during the period between September 2001 and December 2006, thus confirming the Commission's decision which took in 2008.

In particular, the General Court is of the view that the Commission, in 2008, rightly held that Telefónica was in a dominant position in the regional and national wholesale access to broadband Internet markets during the period covered by the infringement. Therefore, the General Court points out that a margin squeeze in a relevant market is capable itself of constituting an abuse of a dominant position.

Moreover, the General Court is also of the view that Telefónica must have known that compliance with the Spanish legislation concerning telecommunications did not protect it against an intervention by the Commission on the basis of competition law. Finally, according to the General Court, Telefónica must have known that the Spanish Telecommunications Market Commission (CMT) had never laid down the pricing system in question, nor had it examined the existence of margin squeeze effect on the basis of the actual costs of the undertaking, but rather on the basis of estimates which had not in actual fact been confirmed by the developments of the market.